Nucor CEO upbeat on 2026, eyes M&A as projects wrap up

Nucor Chair and CEO Leon Topalian is bullish on the outlook for 2026. And noted that the Charlotte, NC-based steelmaker remains in the hunt for M&A opportunities.

“Our historic backlogs, volumes, the demand, the robustness that we see in this economy. … I think ’26 is shaping up to be a very, very solid year for Nucor,” Topalian said during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday.

Project updates

Several of the company’s remaining expansion projects will be finished in 2026. Case in point: Nucor expects to complete construction of its new EAF sheet mill in West Virginia by year end, Topalian said.

“Once online, this mill will begin supplying some of the cleanest and most advanced sheet steel in North America, serving automotive, construction, and industrial customers,” he said.

Nucor also plans to start up the new galvanizing line at its sheet mill in Berkeley County, SC. Commissioning is expected in mid-2026.

At the company’s tower and structures unit, construction is ongoing at its greenfield utility-pole production facility in Indiana. The plant is expected to begin full operations in the second quarter. Also, Nucor’s third greenfield project in Utah remains on track for completion in 2027, Topalian said.

“With the majority of our recent investments largely complete, I’m confident it sets up Nucor to enter its next phase of growth from a position of strength,” he said.

2026 outlook

Nucor continues to see strength in many of its primary end markets. These include infrastructure, data centers, and energy.

“For example, in data centers today, Nucor supplies about 95% of the overall steel demand required for the entirety of a data center,” Topalian said.

The company is also seeing healthy demand related to the US border fence with Mexico. “The ability for us to pivot very quickly and handle the increase in the border wall has been a nice boom for our businesses across Nucor,” he said.

Big picture, Nucor expects domestic steel demand to be slightly up in 2026 relative to 2025. But certain sectors are lagging. “We have yet to see much improvement from interest rate-sensitive markets like automotive and residential construction,” Topalian said.

Import volumes should remain low in 2026 thanks to “the full impact” of the Section 232 tariffs increasing to 50% being felt and because of trade determinations in favor of US mills, he added.

Recall that US mills were successful in a trade petition targeting imports of coated flat-rolled steel. They have also seen a preliminary determination go their way in a trade case targeting foreign rebar.

M&A possibilities

Nucor remains open to new acquisitions in an environment where several high-profile mergers or attempted mergers have taken place across the value chain.

Mergers include Worthington Steel’s $2.4-billion acquisition of Kloeckner and a deal between Ryerson and Olympic Steel that is expected to close this quarter.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) and Australian conglomerate SGH, meanwhile, tried to acquire BlueScope, Australia’s largest steelmaker, for nearly $9 billion. BlueScope rejected that bid. But it might be entertaining others.

What is Nucor looking for? The company in general likes businesses thar run “countercyclical to the steel industry.” And within steel, Nucor is eyeing firms that move the company “up the value chain” and into higher-value products.

“Nucor is a steel company at its heart,” Topalian stressed.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.