Aggregate notional amount specified by the derivative(s). Expressed as an absolute value.

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Investments in debt and equity securities which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading and which are intended to be sold or mature more than one year from the balance sheet date or operating cycle, if longer. Such securities are reported at fair value; unrealized gains (losses) related to Available-for-sale Securities are excluded from earnings and reported in a separate component of shareholders' equity (other comprehensive income), unless the Available-for-sale security is designated as a hedge or is determined to have had an other than temporary decline in fair value below its amortized cost basis. All or a portion of the unrealized holding gain (loss) of an Available-for-sale security that is designated as being hedged in a fair value hedge is recognized in earnings during the period of the hedge, as are other than temporary declines in fair value below the cost basis for investments in equity securities and debt securities that an entity intends to sell or it is more likely than not that it will be required to sell before the recovery of its amortized cost basis. Other than temporary declines in fair value below the cost basis for debt securities categorized as Available-for-sale that an entity does not intend to sell and for which it is not more likely than not that the entity will be required to sell before the recovery of its amortized cost basis are bifurcated into credit losses and losses related to all other factors. Other than temporary declines in fair value below cost basis related to credit losses are recognized in earnings, and losses related to all other factors are recognized in other comprehensive income.

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Face (par) amount of debt instrument at time of issuance.

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Contractual rate at which a foreign currency can be purchased or sold.

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Aggregate impact of foreign currency derivatives on earnings for the period. Includes impact of foreign currency cash flow hedge ineffectiveness and the ineffectiveness of fair value hedging derivatives and full change in fair value of the foreign currency derivatives not designated as hedging instruments.

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Fair value portion of notes payable.

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Notional amount of currency the company is contractually obligated to exchange per month.

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Fair value of currency forward contracts recognized in accounts and other receivables.

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Fair value of currency forward contracts recognized in accounts payable and accrued liabilities.

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Fair Value Measurements and Financial Instruments - Additional Information (Detail)				3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 Amalgamated Sugar Company LLC USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Forward Contracts USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Canadian Dollar Forward Contracts USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals United States Dollar Forward Contracts Norwegian Kroner USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Euros Forward Contracts Norwegian Kroner EUR (€)	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Maximum Canadian Dollar Forward Contracts	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Maximum United States Dollar Forward Contracts Norwegian Kroner	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Maximum Euros Forward Contracts Norwegian Kroner	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Maximum Euro Forward Contracts Norwegian Kroner EUR (€)	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Minimum United States Dollar Forward Contracts Norwegian Kroner	Mar. 31, 2014 Chemicals Minimum Euros Forward Contracts Norwegian Kroner	Mar. 31, 2014 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. Term Loan Per Thousand Dollar Principal Amount USD ($)
Financial Instrument At Fair Value [Line Items]
Notional amount currency forward contract					$ 27,000,000	$ 10,000,000	€ 15,000,000
Exchange floor rate								1.06	6.25	8.41		6.24	8.07
Maturity rate of derivative					3,000,000	5,000,000					5,000,000
Estimated fair value of currency forward contracts	(900,000)	(1,000,000)		900,000
Estimated fair value of currency forward contracts included accounts and other receivables				500,000
Estimated fair value of currency forward contracts included accounts payable and accrued liabilities				1,400,000
Currency transaction loss				900,000
Estimated market price of the notes														1,014.4
Principal amount of debt instrument														1,000
Marketable securities	$ 255,600,000	$ 253,300,000	$ 250,000,000