Commitments and Contingencies, Environmental (Details) - Jun. 30, 2015 - USD ($) $ in Millions	Total
Environmental Contingency
Environmental accrual	$ 19.5
Expected period related to remediation expenditures for environmental contingencies period	30 years
Potential increase in environmental costs	$ 25.1
Minimum
Environmental Contingency
Period for final feasibility study	18 months
Maximum
Environmental Contingency
Period for final feasibility study	24 months

ExpectedPeriodRelatedToRemediationExpendituresForEnvironmentalContingencies

No definition available.

Name:	kalu_ExpectedPeriodRelatedToRemediationExpendituresForEnvironmentalContingenciesPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	kalu_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Period For Final Feasibility Study

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	kalu_PeriodForFinalFeasibilityStudy
Namespace Prefix:	kalu_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Total costs accrued as of the balance sheet date for environmental loss contingencies.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14326-108349

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 410

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 7

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6393242&loc=d3e13207-110859

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 25

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6395460&loc=d3e13647-108346

+ Details

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

- Definition

The difference between the maximum amount of estimated loss and the amount recorded as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 05

-Paragraph 5

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6395354&loc=d3e12631-108344

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyRangeOfPossibleLossPortionNotAccrued
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: