Steel Products
Nucor Pre-Announces 1st Quarter to be Disappointing
Written by Sandy Williams
March 15, 2013
Written by: Sandy Williams
Nucor is expecting shares to drop by half in the first quarter of 2013, falling to $0.20 to $0.25 per diluted share from $0.43 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2012 and $0.45 per diluted share in first quarter 2012.
Weak performance in sheet steel offset by improved profitability of structural steel has left the steel mills segment flat in the fourth quarter. Nucor says steel mills have not seen the usual seasonal improvement in the first quarter. Weak performance is expected by downstream products leading to modest losses for the quarter. Raw materials have also been impacted by an 18 day outage at the Trinidad DRI plant and weather related slowdown at Nucor’s scrap processing business.
Nucor expects non-residential construction to pick up in 2013 and continues to see energy and automotive as their strongest end markets. Imports and the political and economic uncertainly continue to negatively affect results.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Products
Nucor maintains plate prices
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat with the opening of its June order book.
US rig count up, Canada declines
Oil and gas drilling activity was mixed this week, according to Baker Hughes. US rig counts expanded for a second straight week, while Canadian activity continued its seasonal slowdown of eight consecutive weeks.
US, offshore CRC prices continue to diverge
US cold-rolled (CR) coil prices declined again this week, slipping for a third straight week. Most offshore markets did the opposite, moving higher this week.
S232 lifts EU HR price over US, Asian HR still well behind
Domestic hot-rolled coil prices were flat this week after dropping for four straight weeks. Most offshore markets bucked the trend and gained ground.
SMU Steel Demand Index dips into contraction
SMU’s Steel Demand Index has moved into contraction, according to late April indicators. The slowdown comes in response to growing tariff uncertainty after the index reached a four-year high in late February.