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Joint Ventures and Noncontrolling Interests (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 item	Dec. 31, 2013 Valex Corp.	Dec. 31, 2013 Valex Corp. People's Republic of China	Dec. 31, 2013 Valex Corp. South Korea	Dec. 31, 2013 Indiana Pickling & Processing Company	Dec. 31, 2013 Feralloy Processing Company	Dec. 31, 2013 FP Structural Solutions	Dec. 31, 2013 Acero Prime S. de R.L. de C.V.	Dec. 31, 2013 Oregon Feralloy Partners LLC	Apr. 30, 2013 Metals USA Eagle Steel Products, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum
Joint Ventures and Noncontrolling Interests
Ownership percentage in equity method investment								40.00%	40.00%	45.00%	20.00%	50.00%
Percentage of ownership for consolidation of financial statements											50.00%
Number of joint ventures in which the entity has a noncontrolling interest	3
Ownership percentage in investments other than equity method investment		97.00%	92.00%	94.00%	56.00%	51.00%	70.00%

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- Definition

Represents the number of joint ventures in which the entity has a noncontrolling interest.

+ References

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- Definition

Represents the percentage of ownership in another entity's common stock, held directly or indirectly by the parent, for consolidation of financial statements.

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- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 323

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (a)(1)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571

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The parent entity's interest in net assets of the subsidiary, expressed as a percentage.

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