Steel Mills
Outages to Affect Nucor Q4 Results
Written by Sandy Williams
December 17, 2013
Planned outages and the collapse of the storage dome at Nucor Steel Louisiana negatively impacted earnings said Nucor in its fourth quarter guidance. Earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $0.30-$0.40, down from third quarter 2013 earnings of $0.46 per diluted share and fourth quarter 2012 earnings of $0.43 per diluted share.
Sheet Steel profits are up due to higher sheet steel prices, competitor supply disruptions and improved demand and despite a three-week maintenance outage at the Berkeley County, South Carolina mill. Profits were offset, however by a reduced performance at Nucor’s bar and structural mills due to extended planned outages for capital projects at the SBQ mill in Norfolk, Nebraska and the structural mill in Blytheville, Arkansas.
The raw materials segment is expected to report weaker results due to increased start-up costs at the new DRI plant in Louisiana and additional costs related to the storage dome collapse. The Louisiana DRI facility is expected to begin production by the end of the year.
Economically, manufactured goods, such as automotive and energy, are the strongest end markets. Non-residential construction lacks momentum, says Nucor, but is improving slowly.
Nucor and Ecana Oil and Gas have agreed to suspend drilling of new natural gas wells due to a weak natural gas pricing environment. Cessation of drilling will save $400 million in capital expenditures for Nucor in 2014.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
Op-Ed: Ternium CEO Máximo Vedoya wants a fair future forged in steel
After recently receiving an industry honor on behalf of Ternium, I had the opportunity to reflect and share my vision on the state and future of our industry.
Nippon eyeing new $4B U.S. Steel mill to sweeten deal: Report
Nippon Steel could build a new domestic U.S. Steel mill with a total investment of $4 billion.
Nucor cuts CSP by $20/ton, third straight drop
Nucor has lowered its consumer spot price by $20 per short ton, marking the third consecutive weekly decrease.
Nucor reports IT systems breach
Nucor said it temporarily and proactively halted some production operations at various locations.
Cliffs talks DOE funding, blast furnace relining schedule
The future of two projects supported in part by funding through the Department of Energy remains uncertain.