Steel Mills

Nucor raw materials segment swings to profitability

January 28, 2025

Nucor’s raw material segment generated an annual profit of $57 million in 2024. This marked a swing to profit over 2023 when Nucor reported a $14-million loss for the segment.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company did not say in their earnings call on Tuesday what caused this increase besides a 20% increase in the production and usage of direct-reduced-iron (DRI) from their Trinidad and Convent, La., modules.

The 2023 number may have included the importation and usage of extremely expensive pig iron, which Nucor had to source and absorb when prices doubled after the Russian-Ukrainian War in 2022 that resulted in sanctions. A substantial amount likely spilled in to 2023 steel production.

In other 2024 raw material activity, Nucor reported it is making progress in the upgrade of ferrous scrap by presumably improving segregation of obsolescent grades to drive down the residual alloy content.

Nucor did not provide any details on what new technology was developed or employed.

Scrap segregation has been a longtime method in the preparation of recycled metals to improve quality.

Outlook

Looking ahead to Q1’25, Nucor believes ferrous scrap prices are looking stronger, which will be more costly than Q4’24. Scrap prices in February could move up somewhat but may moderate as Q1 progresses.

However, their DRI production costs, which in addition to the increase of 20% in volume, have significantly fallen. This should put raw material costs in Q1’25 less than Q4’24.

The increase in production and usage of DRI should also limit pig iron usage further, adding to the decrease in raw material costs.

Stephen Miller

Stephen Miller started his career in the scrap metal industry in 1978 at Luria Brothers in Cleveland. Over the last 40+ years, he has worked in all capacities in the trading business. He has had positions in both domestic and international scrap trading. In addition to scrap, Miller was at the forefront of the pig iron trade and established a pig iron distribution company under the name of Ferrosource, Inc. Most recently, Miller has concentrated on the scrap export market and regularly does consulting for several companies in the industry.