General	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Nature of Business [Abstract]
Nature of Business	General Nature of Business Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., or SWM or the Company, is a multinational diversified producer of premium specialty papers and filtration media headquartered in the United States of America. The Company manufactures and sells paper and reconstituted tobacco products to the tobacco industry as well as specialized paper and filtration products for use in other applications. We manufacture lightweight specialty papers, which are used in manufacturing ventilated cigarettes, and banded papers for the production of lower ignition propensity, or LIP, cigarettes and are the leading independent producer of reconstituted tobacco used in producing blended cigarettes. We also manufacture resin-based plastic netting through an extrusion process, as well as certain meltblown products and machined plastic core tubes. Our primary products sold to the tobacco industry include cigarette, plug wrap and base tipping papers, or Cigarette Papers, used to wrap various parts of a cigarette and reconstituted tobacco leaf, or RTL, which is used as a blend with virgin tobacco in cigarettes, reconstituted tobacco wrappers and binders for cigars. These products are sold directly to the major tobacco companies or their designated converters in the Americas, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. Our non-tobacco industry products represent a diverse mix of products including low volume, high-value engineered papers and commodity paper grades produced to maximize our machine utilization. In December 2013, we acquired DelStar, Inc., or DelStar, a manufacturer of plastic netting and other resin-based products focused on the filtration and medical markets. The acquisition of DelStar diversifies SWM's global presence in advanced materials, focused in large part in filtration. We conduct business in over 90 countries and operate 14 production locations worldwide, with facilities in the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, China and Poland. We also have a 50% equity interest in two joint ventures in China. The first, China Tobacco Mauduit (Jiangmen) Paper Industry Ltd., or CTM, produces cigarette and porous plug wrap papers and the second, whose facility is under construction, China Tobacco Schweitzer (Yunnan) Reconstituted Tobacco Co. Ltd., or CTS, will produce RTL. Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto have been prepared in accordance with the instructions of Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, and do not include all of the information and disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP. However, such information reflects all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim periods including the results of a business reclassified as a discontinued operation which is more fully described in Note 4. Discontinued Operations. The results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included herein should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, as filed with the SEC on February 28, 2014. Principles of Consolidation The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and wholly-owned, majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries. The Company’s share of the net income of its 50% owned joint ventures in China are included in the condensed consolidated statements of income as income from equity affiliates. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, inventory valuation, useful lives of tangible and intangible assets, fair values, sales returns, receivables valuation, pension, postretirement and other benefits, restructuring and impairment, taxes and contingencies. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Recent Accounting Pronouncements In April 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-08 (ASU 2014-08) "Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205) and Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360): Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity." ASU 2014-08 raises the threshold for a disposal to qualify as a discontinued operation and requires new disclosures of both discontinued operations and certain other disposals that do not meet the definition of a discontinued operation. It is effective for annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2014. Early adoption is permitted but only for disposals that have not been reported in financial statements previously issued. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the adoption on the consolidated financial statements.

General

Nature of Business

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., or SWM or the Company, is a multinational diversified producer of premium specialty papers and filtration media headquartered in the United States of America. The Company manufactures and sells paper and reconstituted tobacco products to the tobacco industry as well as specialized paper and filtration products for use in other applications. We manufacture lightweight specialty papers, which are used in manufacturing ventilated cigarettes, and banded papers for the production of lower ignition propensity, or LIP, cigarettes and are the leading independent producer of reconstituted tobacco used in producing blended cigarettes. We also manufacture resin-based plastic netting through an extrusion process, as well as certain meltblown products and machined plastic core tubes.

Our primary products sold to the tobacco industry include cigarette, plug wrap and base tipping papers, or Cigarette Papers, used to wrap various parts of a cigarette and reconstituted tobacco leaf, or RTL, which is used as a blend with virgin tobacco in cigarettes, reconstituted tobacco wrappers and binders for cigars. These products are sold directly to the major tobacco companies or their designated converters in the Americas, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. Our non-tobacco industry products represent a diverse mix of products including low volume, high-value engineered papers and commodity paper grades produced to maximize our machine utilization. In December 2013, we acquired DelStar, Inc., or DelStar, a manufacturer of plastic netting and other resin-based products focused on the filtration and medical markets. The acquisition of DelStar diversifies SWM's global presence in advanced materials, focused in large part in filtration.

We conduct business in over 90 countries and operate 14 production locations worldwide, with facilities in the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, China and Poland. We also have a 50% equity interest in two joint ventures in China. The first, China Tobacco Mauduit (Jiangmen) Paper Industry Ltd., or CTM, produces cigarette and porous plug wrap papers and the second, whose facility is under construction, China Tobacco Schweitzer (Yunnan) Reconstituted Tobacco Co. Ltd., or CTS, will produce RTL.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto have been prepared in accordance with the instructions of Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, and do not include all of the information and disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP. However, such information reflects all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim periods including the results of a business reclassified as a discontinued operation which is more fully described in Note 4. Discontinued Operations.

The results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included herein should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, as filed with the SEC on February 28, 2014.

Principles of Consolidation

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and wholly-owned, majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries. The Company’s share of the net income of its 50% owned joint ventures in China are included in the condensed consolidated statements of income as income from equity affiliates. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, inventory valuation, useful lives of tangible and intangible assets, fair values, sales returns, receivables valuation, pension, postretirement and other benefits, restructuring and impairment, taxes and contingencies. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In April 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-08 (ASU 2014-08) "Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205) and Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360): Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity." ASU 2014-08 raises the threshold for a disposal to qualify as a discontinued operation and requires new disclosures of both discontinued operations and certain other disposals that do not meet the definition of a discontinued operation. It is effective for annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2014. Early adoption is permitted but only for disposals that have not been reported in financial statements previously issued. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the adoption on the consolidated financial statements.