Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended
		Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Statement Of Income And Comprehensive Income [Abstract]
Net income	[1]	$ 31,912	$ 27,919	[2]
Other comprehensive income:
Foreign currency translation adjustments (Note 10)		10,454	12,590
Defined benefit pension adjustments, net of tax (Note 10)		565	564
Derivative instrument activity, net of tax (Note 10)		(2)	(21)
Total other comprehensive income		11,017	13,133
Comprehensive income		42,929	41,052
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests (Note 2)		(12)	(14)
Comprehensive income attributable to Stepan Company		$ 42,917	$ 41,038

[1] The 2016 amounts for the noted line items have been immaterially changed from the amounts originally reported as a result of the Company’s fourth quarter 2016 adoption of Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2019-9, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.

[2] Amounts for the noted line items have been immaterially changed from the amounts originally reported as a result of the Company’s fourth quarter 2016 adoption of ASU No. 2016-9, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.