Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of changes in carrying value of goodwill and other intangible assets

The changes in carrying value of goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, were as follows:

(In thousands)	Surfactants Segment						Polymer Segment					Specialty Products Segment				Total
	2012			2011			2012		2011			2012		2011		2012			2011
Balance as of January 1
Goodwill	$	9,143		$	9,206		$	841	$	978		$	483	$	—	$	10,467		$	10,184
Accumulated impairment loss		(3,467	)		(3,467	)		—		—			—		—		(3,467	)		(3,467	)
		5,676			5,739			841		978			483		—		7,000			6,717
Goodwill acquired (1)		—			—			—		—			—		483		—			483
Foreign currency translation		103			(63	)		96		(137	)		—		—		199			(200	)
Balance as of December 31
Goodwill		9,246			9,143			937		841			483		483		10,666			10,467
Accumulated impairment loss		(3,467	)		(3,467	)		—		—			—		—		(3,467	)		(3,467	)
	$	5,779		$	5,676		$	937	$	841		$	483	$	483	$	7,199		$	7,000

⁽¹⁾  See Note 20 for information regarding the goodwill acquired in business combinations.

Components of other intangible assets and changes in gross carrying values

The following table reflects the components of other intangible assets, all of which have finite lives, as of December 31, 2012 and 2011. The year-to-year changes in gross carrying values resulted from the effects of foreign currency translation.

(In thousands)	Gross Carrying Value				Accumulated Amortization
	December 31				December 31
	2012		2011		2012		2011
Other Intangible Assets:
Patents	$	8,947	$	8,947	$	2,831	$	2,099
Trademarks		5,843		5,834		5,468		5,070
Customer lists		7,359		7,215		5,802		5,264
Know-how (a)		8,950		8,915		8,453		7,798
Non-compete agreements		1,235		1,182		1,002		681
Total	$	32,334	$	32,093	$	23,556	$	20,912

(a) Know-how includes intellectual property rights covering proprietary information, written formulae, trade secrets or secret processes, inventions and developmental products (whether patentable or not), discoveries, improvements, compositions, manufacturing processes, manuals, specifications and technical data.

Estimated amortization expense for identifiable intangibles assets

Estimated amortization expense for identifiable intangibles assets for each of the five succeeding fiscal years is as follows:

(In thousands)
For year ended 12/31/13	$	1,759
For year ended 12/31/14	$	1,021
For year ended 12/31/15		$996
For year ended 12/31/16		$852
For year ended 12/31/17		$735