Reports related to this article:
Project(s): View 2 related projects in PECWeb
Plant(s): View 2 related plants in PECWeb
Released September 18, 2017 | SUGAR LAND
en
Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Nucor Corporation's (NYSE: NUE) (Charlotte, North Carolina) board of directors has approved a U.S. steel bar micro mill project in one of five states that are under consideration. The board also approved on Friday the expansion of its existing merchant bar operations. Industrial Info is tracking 12 active Nucor capital projects worth nearly $839 million.
Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Florida are being considered for the steel bar micro mill. Nucor did not release project details. The company board also approved the expansion of its existing merchant bar operations in either Illinois or Ohio.
In May, Nucor announced an estimated $176 million investment to build a hot band galvanizing and pickling line at its sheet mill in Ghent, Kentucky. The new galvanizing line will expand Nucor Steel Gallatin's product capabilities and have an annual capacity of 500,000 tons. Construction is expected to kick off in December this year, with completion in April 2019. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Nucor also reduced its earnings guidance range on Friday for the third quarter this year.
"Despite high utilization rates at our sheet mills, continued import pressure has not allowed pricing to keep pace with increasing raw material costs during the third quarter of 2017," the company said in a press statement. "The forecasted earnings of our plate mills are expected to be significantly less than what was expected when we provided our qualitative guidance in July. Following increased demand earlier in the year primarily due to inventory restocking in the supply chain, demand in plate end use markets has been tepid. In general, we expect stable conditions to continue for most end use markets we serve."
Imports continue to hurt the U.S. steel industry, Nucor said. "Through the first eight months of 2017, finished steel imports accounted for an estimated 28% share of the U.S. market and have increased an estimated 16.5% compared to the same period last year," it said.
The industry continues to pursue trade cases to curb unfairly traded imports, Nucor said. For related information, see July 21, 2017, article - Steel Dumping Import Remedies Loom for U.S. Producers.
Nucor added that its Louisiana facility "experienced unplanned outages for most of the third quarter of 2017, which has caused us to significantly lower our forecasted third quarter earnings estimate for the raw materials segment. The facility stopped production in late July to make repairs to its materials handling systems and to address other equipment issues. We expect to resume operations in early October."
Nucor has estimated capital spending of about $500 million for 2017. The largest Nucor project being tracked by Industrial Info is a $270 million steel sheet galvanizing plant in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The facility will produce 400,000 tons per year of galvanized steel sheet. Construction kicked off in February this year, with completion expected in late 2018. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Florida are being considered for the steel bar micro mill. Nucor did not release project details. The company board also approved the expansion of its existing merchant bar operations in either Illinois or Ohio.
In May, Nucor announced an estimated $176 million investment to build a hot band galvanizing and pickling line at its sheet mill in Ghent, Kentucky. The new galvanizing line will expand Nucor Steel Gallatin's product capabilities and have an annual capacity of 500,000 tons. Construction is expected to kick off in December this year, with completion in April 2019. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Nucor also reduced its earnings guidance range on Friday for the third quarter this year.
"Despite high utilization rates at our sheet mills, continued import pressure has not allowed pricing to keep pace with increasing raw material costs during the third quarter of 2017," the company said in a press statement. "The forecasted earnings of our plate mills are expected to be significantly less than what was expected when we provided our qualitative guidance in July. Following increased demand earlier in the year primarily due to inventory restocking in the supply chain, demand in plate end use markets has been tepid. In general, we expect stable conditions to continue for most end use markets we serve."
Imports continue to hurt the U.S. steel industry, Nucor said. "Through the first eight months of 2017, finished steel imports accounted for an estimated 28% share of the U.S. market and have increased an estimated 16.5% compared to the same period last year," it said.
The industry continues to pursue trade cases to curb unfairly traded imports, Nucor said. For related information, see July 21, 2017, article - Steel Dumping Import Remedies Loom for U.S. Producers.
Nucor added that its Louisiana facility "experienced unplanned outages for most of the third quarter of 2017, which has caused us to significantly lower our forecasted third quarter earnings estimate for the raw materials segment. The facility stopped production in late July to make repairs to its materials handling systems and to address other equipment issues. We expect to resume operations in early October."
Nucor has estimated capital spending of about $500 million for 2017. The largest Nucor project being tracked by Industrial Info is a $270 million steel sheet galvanizing plant in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The facility will produce 400,000 tons per year of galvanized steel sheet. Construction kicked off in February this year, with completion expected in late 2018. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
