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Acquisitions - Additional Information (Details) (USD $) | 0 Months Ended | 3 Months Ended | 0 Months Ended |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Jan. 29, 2015 | Mar. 31, 2015 | Mar. 31, 2014 | Jan. 12, 2015 | Dec. 31, 2014 | Feb. 19, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Share price |  |  |  |  | $ 59.70us-gaap_SharePrice |  |
Common stock, par value |  | $ 0.01us-gaap_CommonStockParOrStatedValuePerShare |  |  | $ 0.01us-gaap_CommonStockParOrStatedValuePerShare | $ 0.01us-gaap_CommonStockParOrStatedValuePerShare |
Net sales |  | $ 884,404,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet |  | $ 599,843,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet |  |  |
Net income attributable to Albemarle Corporation |  | 43,115,000us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss |  | 56,583,000us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss |  |  |
Acquisition and integration related costs |  | 59,523,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationAcquisitionRelatedCosts |  | 0us-gaap_BusinessCombinationAcquisitionRelatedCosts |  |  |
Goodwill |  | 2,709,670,000us-gaap_Goodwill |  |  |  | 243,262,000us-gaap_Goodwill |
Utilization of inventory markup |  | 48,200,000alb_UtilizationofInventoryMarkup |  |  |  |  |
Equity Interest Acquired, Percentage | 40.00%alb_BusinessCombinationStepAcquisitionEquityInterestAcquiredPercentage |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquisition of remaining interest in Shanghai Chemetall | 57,600,000us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireEquityMethodInvestments |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquisition of remaining interest in Shanghai Chemetall, net of cash acquired | 45,550,000alb_Paymentstoacquireequitymethodinvestmentsnetofcashacquired | 45,550,000alb_Paymentstoacquireequitymethodinvestmentsnetofcashacquired |  | 0alb_Paymentstoacquireequitymethodinvestmentsnetofcashacquired |  |  |
Equity Interest in Acquiree, Fair Value | 60,000,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationStepAcquisitionEquityInterestInAcquireeFairValue1 |  |  |  |  |  |
Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total purchase price |  |  |  |  | 5,718,268,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationConsiderationTransferred1 / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member |  |
Cash issued per outstanding share of Rockwood common stock |  |  |  |  | $ 50.65alb_Businessacquisitioncashissued / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member |  |
Equity issued per outstanding share of Rockwood common stock |  |  |  |  | 0.4803alb_Businessacquisitionequityissuedinshares / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member |  |
Net sales |  | 328,800,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member |  |  |  |  |
Net income attributable to Albemarle Corporation |  | 8,900,000us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member |  |  |  |  |
Acquisition and integration related costs |  | 57,400,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationAcquisitionRelatedCosts / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member |  |  |  |  |
Goodwill |  |  |  |  | 2,624,876,000us-gaap_Goodwill / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member |  |
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life |  |  |  |  | 23 years |  |
Other significant projects |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquisition and integration related costs |  | 2,100,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationAcquisitionRelatedCosts / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_OthersignificantprojectsMember |  |  |  |  |
Common Stock | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Common stock - number of shares issued |  |  |  |  | 34,100,000us-gaap_NoncashOrPartNoncashAcquisitionNoncashFinancialOrEquityInstrumentConsiderationSharesIssued1 / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member / us-gaap_EquityInterestIssuedOrIssuableByTypeAxis = us-gaap_CommonStockMember |  |
Appraisal shares |  |  |  |  |  |  | 882,000alb_Appraisalshares / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member / us-gaap_EquityInterestIssuedOrIssuableByTypeAxis = us-gaap_CommonStockMember
Rockwood Holdings, Inc. | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Common stock, par value |  |  |  |  | $ 0.01us-gaap_CommonStockParOrStatedValuePerShare / us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member / dei_LegalEntityAxis = alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member |  |
4.625% Senior Notes |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Debt instrument, interest rate |  | 4.625%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateStatedPercentage / us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis = alb_FourPointSixTwoFivePercentSeniorNotesMember |  |  | 4.625%us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateStatedPercentage / us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis = alb_FourPointSixTwoFivePercentSeniorNotesMember |  |
Debt instrument, face amount |  |  |  |  | 1,250,000,000us-gaap_DebtInstrumentFaceAmount / us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis = alb_FourPointSixTwoFivePercentSeniorNotesMember |  |
Unamortized Premium |  | 42,102,000us-gaap_DebtInstrumentUnamortizedPremium / us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis = alb_FourPointSixTwoFivePercentSeniorNotesMember |  |  | 43,700,000us-gaap_DebtInstrumentUnamortizedPremium / us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis = alb_FourPointSixTwoFivePercentSeniorNotesMember |  |
Patents and technology | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life |  |  |  |  | 17 years |  |
Trade names and trademarks | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life |  |  |  |  | 24 years |  |
Customer lists and relationships | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life |  |  |  |  | 24 years |  |
Rockwood Merger Appraisal Shares Litigation [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Liability for appraisal shares |  | $ 74,934,000us-gaap_LitigationReserve / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = alb_RockwoodMergerAppraisalSharesLitigationMember | [1] |  |  |  |
[1] | See Note 2, “Acquisitions.”

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