XML 57 R44.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.3.1.900

Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale and Disposals of Properties, Plants and Equipment, Net, and Timberland and Gains - Additional Information (Detail) | 3 Months Ended |
--- | --- | ---
Jan. 31, 2016 USD ($) Assets | Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($) | Oct. 31, 2015 Assets
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ 900,000 | $ 1,600,000 |
Timberland gains | 0 | 24,300,000 |
Other Net Gains [Member] |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ 100,000 |  |
Assets Held for Sale [Member] |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net |  | 1,600,000 |
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services [Member] |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Number of assets group with assets and liabilities held for sale | Assets | 6 |  | 4
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services [Member] | Other miscellaneous equipment [Member] |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net |  | 400,000 |
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services [Member] | Assets Held for Sale [Member] |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net |  | 800,000 |
Flexible Products & Services [Member] |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Number of assets group with assets and liabilities held for sale | Assets | 1 |  | 1
Flexible Products & Services [Member] | Assets Held for Sale [Member] |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ 200,000 |  |
Land Management [Member] |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ 600,000 | $ 400,000 |

X
- Definition Number of assets group with assets and Liabilities held for sale. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | gef_NumberOfAssetsGroupWithAssetsAndLiabilitiesHeldForSale
Namespace Prefix: | gef_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of property, plant and equipment assets, including oil and gas property and timber property. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 28 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3602-108585 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfPropertyPlantEquipment
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of property used for growing and harvesting trees. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51719941&loc=d3e2941-110230 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 28 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3602-108585 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51717284&loc=d3e1361-107760 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfTimberProperty
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
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_LongLivedAssetsHeldForSaleLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_GainContingenciesByNatureAxis=gef_OtherNetGainsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_DisposalGroupClassificationAxis=us-gaap_DiscontinuedOperationsHeldForSaleOrDisposedOfBySaleMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=gef_RigidIndustrialPackagingAndServicesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=gef_OtherMiscellaneousEquipmentMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=gef_FlexibleProductsAndServicesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=gef_LandManagementMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |