The amount of additional borrowings provided in credit facility under a letter of credit sub-facility.

No definition available.

Name:	cenx_LineOfCreditFacilityAdditionalBorrowingsUnderLetterOfCreditSubFacility1
Namespace Prefix:	cenx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity, Net of Letters of Credit

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cenx_LineofCreditFacilityRemainingBorrowingCapacityNetofLettersofCredit
Namespace Prefix:	cenx_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The total amount of the contingent obligation under letters of credit outstanding as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LettersOfCreditOutstandingAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the current and noncurrent portions of long-term obligations drawn from a line of credit, which is a bank's commitment to make loans up to a specific amount. Examples of items that might be included in the application of this element may consist of letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a maximum amount as of any point in time conditional on satisfaction of specified terms before, as of and after the date of drawdowns on the line. Includes short-term obligations that would normally be classified as current liabilities but for which (a) postbalance sheet date issuance of a long term obligation to refinance the short term obligation on a long term basis, or (b) the enterprise has entered into a financing agreement that clearly permits the enterprise to refinance the short-term obligation on a long term basis and the following conditions are met (1) the agreement does not expire within 1 year and is not cancelable by the lender except for violation of an objectively determinable provision, (2) no violation exists at the BS date, and (3) the lender has entered into the financing agreement is expected to be financially capable of honoring the agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCredit
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of current borrowing capacity under the credit facility considering any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed (for example, borrowings may be limited by the amount of current assets), but without considering any amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityCurrentBorrowingCapacity
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Description of the terms of a credit facility arrangement. Terms typically include interest rate, collateral required, guarantees required, repayment requirements, and restrictions on use of assets and activities of the entity.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityDescription
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- 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_LineOfCreditFacilityLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of borrowing capacity currently available under the credit facility (current borrowing capacity less the amount of borrowings outstanding).

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityRemainingBorrowingCapacity
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis=us-gaap_LongTermDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=us-gaap_DomesticLineOfCreditMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=us-gaap_LetterOfCreditMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=us-gaap_ForeignLineOfCreditMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Debt - Credit Facility (Details) - Long-term Debt [Member] - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2017	Apr. 29, 2016	Jun. 26, 2015	Nov. 27, 2013
U.S revolving credit facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Credit facility face amount	$ 150,000,000	$ 150,000,000
Credit facility maximum amount	150,000,000	150,000,000
Borrowing availability	96,048,000	115,288,000
Outstanding borrowings	0
Borrowing availability, net of outstanding letters of credit and borrowings	50,104,000	49,524,000
Letters of credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Letter of credit sub-facility amount		110,000,000		$ 110,000,000
Outstanding letters of credit issued	45,944,000	65,764,000
Outstanding borrowings	0	0
Iceland revolving credit facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Credit facility face amount			$ 50,000,000		$ 50,000,000
Credit facility maximum amount	50,000,000	50,000,000
Borrowing availability	50,000,000	50,000,000
Outstanding letters of credit issued	0
Outstanding borrowings	0	0
Borrowing availability, net of outstanding letters of credit and borrowings	$ 50,000,000	$ 50,000,000
Prepayment terms	Any outstanding borrowings may be prepaid without penalty or premium (except incurred breakage costs) in whole or in part.