Commitments and Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended								0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	May 31, 2013		Aug. 31, 2012	May 31, 2013 Metals Recycling Business		May 31, 2013 Auto Parts Business		May 31, 2013 Steel Manufacturing Business [Member] T	May 31, 2013 Portland Harbor Superfund Site [Member]	Mar. 30, 2012 Portland Harbor Superfund Site [Member] alternatives	May 31, 2013 Other Metals Recycling Business Sites [Member]	Mar. 30, 2012 Minimum [Member] Portland Harbor Superfund Site [Member]	May 31, 2013 Minimum [Member] Portland Harbor Superfund Site [Member] potentially_responsible_party	Mar. 30, 2012 Maximum [Member] Portland Harbor Superfund Site [Member]	Mar. 30, 2012 Lower Willamette Group [Member] Portland Harbor Superfund Site [Member]	Mar. 30, 2012 Potential Responsible Parties [Member] Minimum [Member] Portland Harbor Superfund Site [Member]	Mar. 30, 2012 Potential Responsible Parties [Member] Maximum [Member] Portland Harbor Superfund Site [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Accrual for Environmental Loss Contingencies, Increase (Decrease) for Acquisitions and Divestitures	$ 3,000,000
Accrual for Environmental Loss Contingencies [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	47,059,000			30,859,000		16,200,000			1,000,000		30,000,000
Liabilities Established (Released), Net(1)	2,359,000	[1]		(92,000)	[1]	2,451,000	[1]
Payments and Other	(181,000)			(181,000)		0
Ending balance	49,237,000			30,586,000		18,651,000		0	1,000,000		30,000,000
Short-Term	2,243,000		2,185,000	1,689,000		554,000
Long-Term	46,994,000		44,874,000	28,897,000		18,097,000
Number Of Potentially Responsible Parties													80
Site Contingency Period Of Feasibility Study															10 years
Site Contingency, Estimated Time Frame to Remediate												2 years		28 years
Feasibility Study Investigation Costs															100,000,000
Site Contingency Number of Remedial Alternatives										10
Site Contingency Least Costly Remediation Plan																170,000,000	250,000,000
Site Contingency Most Costly Remediation Plan																$ 1,080,000,000	$ 1,760,000,000
Annual production capacity (in tons)								950,000
Permit Expiration Date								Feb. 01, 2018

[1] The Company recorded $3 million in purchase accounting for environmental liabilities related to properties leased in connection with business combinations completed in fiscal 2013.