Long-Term Debt - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended											1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited Capital Lease Obligations	Dec. 31, 2011 Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited Capital Lease Obligations USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited Unsecured non-interest bearing loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited Unsecured non-interest bearing loan USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited Construction Borrowings Related To Foreign Plant USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited Construction Borrowings Related To Foreign Plant USD ($)	Jan. 20, 2005 5.10% Senior Notes USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 5.10% Senior Notes	Dec. 31, 2011 5.10% Senior Notes	Jan. 31, 2011 4.50% Senior Notes USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 4.50% Senior Notes USD ($)	Dec. 10, 2010 4.50% Senior Notes USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 4.50% Senior Notes USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 4.50% Senior Notes	Dec. 31, 2011 4.50% Senior Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Domestic Financial Institution Agreement USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Domestic Financial Institution Agreement	Dec. 31, 2010 Euro Denominated Credit Lines USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Euro Denominated Credit Lines EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2012 Foreign Credit Line U.S. Dollar- Euro Denominated Borrowings USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Foreign Credit Line U.S. Dollar- Euro Denominated Borrowings USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Yen Denominated Credit Lines USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Yen Denominated Credit Lines JPY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2011 Yen Denominated Credit Lines	Dec. 31, 2010 Yen Denominated Credit Lines	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Foreign Credit Lines USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Other Foreign Credit Lines USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Foreign Credit Lines Foreign Subsidiaries USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited Construction Borrowings Related To Foreign Plant	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum Previous Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum Joint Venture Jordan Bromine Company Limited Construction Borrowings Related To Foreign Plant	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum Previous Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2013		$ 12,700,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2014		6,000,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2015		327,100,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2016		0
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2017		100,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, thereafter		356,000,000
Revolving credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity	675,000,000		750,000,000																			30,000,000			70,000,000	48,000,000	48,000,000	40,600,000	3,500,000,000			93,900,000		79,500,000
Revolving credit facility maturity period	5 years
Revolving credit facility maturity date	Sep. 22, 2016
Revolving senior credit facility, additional borrowings	250,000,000	250,000,000
Fees and expenses related to new agreement			2,700,000
Total spreads and fees			0.975%																																0.90%		0.32%	1.40%		0.675%
Debt covenant			20.00%
Principal amount of debt													325,000,000					350,000,000
Debt instrument, interest rate							5.50%						5.10%	5.10%	5.10%		4.50%		4.50%	4.50%	4.50%															1.74%			5.50%
Interest rate of debt, effective percentage													5.19%				4.70%		4.70%
Maturity date of debt													Feb. 01, 2015						Dec. 15, 2020
Percentage of public offering																		99.101%
Proceeds from issuance of senior notes				346,853,000															346,900,000
Repayment of fund pension obligations																50,000,000	50,000,000	100,000,000
Average interest rate on borrowings																						1.49%	1.43%	1.30%	1.30%					1.07%	1.19%		6.10%
Borrowings outstanding under the credit facility																								92,200,000	70,000,000								50,300,000
Revolving senior credit facility, remaining borrowings		750,000,000
Foreign currency denominated debt		699,288,000	763,673,000		26,400,000	40,800,000					13,500,000	18,800,000
Capitalized lease obligation of plant equipment			2,006,000					2,000,000
Non-interest loan from other shareholders									6,000,000	6,000,000
Additional borrowing capacity amount					$ 24,100,000