XML 53 R42.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.5.0.2

Acquisitions - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands |  | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | 18 Months Ended |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Jan. 12, 2015 | Sep. 30, 2016 | Sep. 30, 2015 | Sep. 30, 2016 | Sep. 30, 2015 | Sep. 30, 2016 | Dec. 31, 2015 | [2]
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Goodwill | [1] |  | $ 1,484,182 |  | $ 1,484,182 |  | $ 1,484,182 | $ 1,460,552
Acquisition and integration related costs |  |  | 6,749 | $ 36,514 | 44,337 | $ 117,171 |  |
Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total purchase price |  | $ 5,725,321 |  |  |  |  |  |
Goodwill |  | $ 2,818,627 |  |  |  |  |  |
Change in purchase price allocation, goodwill |  |  |  |  | 1,500 |  | $ 193,800 |
Acquisition and integration related costs |  |  | 6,300 | 35,500 | 42,400 | 111,200 |  |
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life |  | 23 years |  |  |  |  |  |
Utilization of inventory markup |  |  |  | 16,800 |  | 102,300 |  |
Other significant projects |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquisition and integration related costs |  |  | $ 400 | 1,000 | 1,900 | 6,000 |  |
Patents and technology | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life |  | 20 years |  |  |  |  |  |
Trade names and trademarks | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life |  | 20 years |  |  |  |  |  |
Customer lists and relationships | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life |  | 24 years |  |  |  |  |  |
Cost of Sales | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquisition measurement period adjustments |  |  |  |  | 200 |  |  |
Utilization of inventory markup |  |  |  | 7,700 |  | 55,400 |  |
(Loss) Income from Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquisition measurement period adjustments |  |  |  |  | $ 4,100 |  |  |
Acquisition and integrated related costs | Rockwood Holdings, Inc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Business Acquisition [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Acquisition and integration related costs |  |  |  | $ 41,800 |  | $ 120,500 |  |
[1] | As of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, $1.5 billion of Goodwill was classified as Assets held for sale in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. See Note 3, “Divestitures,” for additional information.
[2] | The December 31, 2015 balances have been recast to reflect a change in segments. See Note 12, “Segment Information,” for further details.

X
- Definition Acquisition measurement period adjustments + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | alb_Acquisitionmeasurementperiodadjustments
Namespace Prefix: | alb_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Business Combination, Provisional Information, Initial Accounting Incomplete, Goodwill + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | alb_BusinessCombinationProvisionalInformationInitialAccountingIncompleteGoodwill
Namespace Prefix: | alb_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Utilization of Inventory Markup + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | alb_UtilizationofInventoryMarkup
Namespace Prefix: | alb_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Weighted average amortization period of finite-lived intangible assets acquired either individually or as part of a group of assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a)(3) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16265-109275 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AcquiredFiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsWeightedAverageUsefulLife
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition This element represents acquisition-related costs incurred to effect a business combination which costs have been expensed during the period. Such costs include finder's fees; advisory, legal, accounting, valuation, and other professional or consulting fees; general administrative costs, including the costs of maintaining an internal acquisitions department; and may include costs of registering and issuing debt and equity securities. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 25 -Paragraph 23 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=73531572&loc=d3e1043-128460 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessCombinationAcquisitionRelatedCosts
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount of consideration transferred, consisting of acquisition-date fair value of assets transferred by the acquirer, liabilities incurred by the acquirer, and equity interest issued by the acquirer. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 30 -Paragraph 7 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911251&loc=d3e6578-128477 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 30 -Paragraph 8 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911251&loc=d3e6613-128477 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessCombinationConsiderationTransferred1
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 20 -Section 45 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 350 -SubTopic 20 -Section 45 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=alb_RockwoodHoldingsInc.Member
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=alb_OthersignificantprojectsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=alb_PatentsAndTechnologyMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_TrademarksAndTradeNamesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=alb_CustomerListsAndRelationshipsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_IncomeStatementLocationAxis=us-gaap_CostOfSalesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_IncomeStatementLocationAxis=alb_LossIncomefromDiscontinuedOperationsNetofTaxMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_NonrecurringAdjustmentAxis=us-gaap_AcquisitionRelatedCostsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |