Revenues - Disaggregation of Revenue (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of sales	100.00%	100.00%
Sales	$ 314,895	$ 359,238
United States
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales	257,642	297,648
International
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Sales	$ 57,253	$ 61,590
Nylon
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of sales	31.00%	28.00%
Caprolactam
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of sales	20.00%	18.00%
Ammonium Sulfate Fertilizers
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of sales	21.00%	19.00%
Chemical Intermediates
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of sales	28.00%	35.00%

Amount, including tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value-added and excise.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130539-203045

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130545-203045

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130543-203045

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration