Nucor sets another earnings record

Charlotte, North Carolina-based steelmaker and scrap yard operator Nucor Corp. has announced what it calls record quarterly consolidated net earnings of $2.56 billion for this year’s second quarter. It follows earnings of $2.10 billion garnered in the first quarter of 2022.

In the first six months of 2022, Nucor has recorded net earnings of $4.66 billion, or $17.30 per diluted share. That compares with net earnings of $2.45 billion, or $8.13 per diluted share, in the first half of 2021.

“Nucor’s second-quarter earnings of $9.67 per diluted share and first-half earnings of $17.30 per diluted share both represent new records,” says Leon Topalian, Nucor president and CEO. “Nucor’s differentiated business model is yielding exceptional results.”

The scrap-fed electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker, which also owns the David J. Joseph (DJJ) scrap processing and trading firm, says its net sales increased 12 percent to $11.79 billion in the second quarter of 2022, representing a 34 percent increase compared with $8.79 billion in the second quarter of last year.

The average scrap and scrap substitute cost per gross ton of used in this year’s second quarter was $534, an 8 percent increase compared with $495 in the first quarter of 2022. The $534 figure also represents a 17 percent increase compared with one year ago, when the cost was $457 per ton.

The company’s Raw Materials business unit, which includes DJJ, earned $263.6 million for Nucor in the first half of this year. That is a 119 percent jump from the $120.1 million earned in the first half of 2021.

Overall operating rates at the company’s EAF steel mills increased to 85 percent in the second quarter of 2022, which compares with a 77 percent rate in the first quarter. In the first half of this year, Nucor’s mills have operated at 81 percent of capacity, which compares with a 96 percent rate in the first six months of 2021.

Nucor says demand remains “stable and resilient” for steel in its major markets and that “customer inventory levels appear right-sized relative to economic conditions.”

The company adds, however, “We expect a decrease from the record-setting second quarter, [but] we expect another strong quarter of profitability in the third quarter of 2022. We believe that 2022 will be the most profitable year in Nucor’s history.”

Nucor continues, “We expect the steel mills segment earnings to be sequentially lower in the third quarter of 2022 due to lower expected shipment volumes and average selling prices, particularly at our sheet and plate mills. Raw materials segment earnings are expected to improve in the third quarter of 2022 due to higher realized pricing at our direct reduced iron (DRI) facilities.”