Nucor: Q3 Profits Will Be Highest in Company History

And the good times are expected to roll into the fourth quarter, which Nucor said would “continue the trend of exceptional performance” seen throughout 2021.

Ballooning profits come thanks in large part to Nucor’s steel mill segment, which is expected to post “significantly” higher third quarter earnings even when compared to an already stellar second quarter.

The company’s downstream steel products segment is also anticipated to record substantially increased earnings on higher selling prices and expanding margins. Its recycling operations, in contrast, are forecast to see third quarter results roughly in line with those reported in the second quarter.

It’s a good time to be a steel mill.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), one of Nucor’s primary domestic competitors, also predicted record third-quarter earnings.

The raft of record results come on the heels of record high steel prices.

Hot-rolled coil prices stands at $1,950 per ton ($97.50 per hundredweight), down $5 per ton from a week ago but more than triple $580 per ton in mid-September of last year, according to SMU’s interactive pricing tool.

Scrap prices, in contrast, have fallen a sharper $40-50 per gross ton this month.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com