Nucor Looks to Brighter 2026, Expects Steel Market Improvement

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Written by Will Ploch, Assistant Editor-in-Chief for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Nucor is looking forward to a better atmosphere for the domestic steel-production sector in 2026, with stronger volumes and prices projected from demand driven by data centers, infrastructure and other factors.

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High Hopes for 2026

Nucor Corporation expects a strong start to 2026, with earnings forecasted to grow across its major operating segments. The company's steel mills are expected to drive the momentum through stronger volumes and higher realized prices. This follows a somewhat disappointing fourth quarter, when rising costs suppressed margins in its steel-producing segments. Industrial Info is tracking more than $6.7 billion worth of active and proposed projects from Nucor, including nearly $5.5 billion worth of U.S.-based steel-manufacturing projects.

Executives at Nucor are encouraged by rising demand in several key end markets--particularly the U.S. Midwest, which is the largest steel sheet-consuming region--as well as historically strong backlogs and favorable federal policies. Demand stemming from energy infrastructure and data centers is expected to drive much of the related project investment, while "interest rate-sensitive markets" like automotive and residential construction are expected to lag.

To accommodate these industrial trends, Nucor is at work on a pair of five-year developments: the modernization of its Berkeley Steel Mill in Huger, South Carolina, which includes the installation of a new air-separation unit, and the expansion of its hot steel mill in Crawfordsville, Indiana, which includes a new construction-grade, continuous galvanizing line. Both project began construction toward the middle of 2023.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Plant and Project databases can learn more about these projects--including capacities, investment values and necessary equipment--from profiles of the Huger and Crawfordsville plants, detailed reports on the Huger and Crawfordsville projects.

Steve Laxton, the chief financial officer of Nucor, said in a recent quarterly earnings-related conference call that shipment volumes during the fourth quarter of 2025 declined 8%, due to "seasonal effects" such as fewer shipping days, as well as planned and unplanned outages: "While average realized pricing improved in our bar and structural groups, those gains were more than offset by lower pricing in our sheet and plate groups. This decline was expected, as lagging sheet prices from the fall flowed through in the quarter. Sheet prices began to rise in November and December, with most of that benefit expected to be realized in the first quarter."

By the Numbers

• About $5.5 billion: Total value of U.S.-based steel-manufacturing projects from Nucor that are tracked by Industrial Info
• 8%: Decline in Nucor's shipment volumes in the fourth quarter of 2025
• More than $6.7 billion: Total value of projects from Nucor worldwide that are tracked by Industrial Info

Coil, Rebar Output to Grow

Among its projects completed in 2025 was Nucor's Transmission Tower Production Plant in Trinity, Alabama, which was built a few miles from its sheet steel mill in Decatur, Alabama. Also in the Heart of Dixie, Nucor is at work on one of its highest-valued projects, a steel coil and plate mill in Tuscaloosa. Nucor is upgrading the 1.2 million-ton-per-year facility from a conventional, single-stand Steckel mill to a tandem Steckel mill, which uses two or more stands with furnace coilers to bolster efficiency and boost capacity.

Subscribers can read profiles of the Trinity, Decatur and Tuscaloosa plants, and read detailed reports on the Trinity and Tuscaloosa projects.

Universal Industrial Gases Incorporated, a subsidiary, is developing one of Nucor's highest-valued projects in the Chemical Processing Industry: an industrial gases plant in Darlington, South Carolina, which will supply oxygen, nitrogen and argon to its 1.1 million-ton-per-year steel mill in Darlington. The project, which started construction in mid-2024, is nearing completion. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed report on the industrial gases plant and a profile of the steel mill in Darlington.

Nucor also finished construction on a rebar micro‑mill in Lexington, North Carolina, and is nearing completion of a fabrication plant nearby. Subscribers can read a detailed report on the fabrication plant and a profile of the micro‑mill.

Nucor's net earnings were reported to be $378 million for the fourth quarter, a 31.7% increase from fourth-quarter 2024, and $1.74 billion for full-year 2025, a 14% decrease from full-year 2024. Net sales stood at $7.69 billion for the fourth quarter, an 8.63% increase from fourth-quarter 2024, and $32.49 billion for full-year 2025, a 5.73% increase from full-year 2024.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for active and proposed projects from Nucor.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Key Takeaways

• Nucor expects earnings to grow across its major operating segments in 2026.
• Fewer shipping days, and planned and unplanned outages weighed down the company's results in fourth-quarter 2025.
• Historically strong backlogs and favorable federal policies are expected to benefit the sector in 2026.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR News Intelligence) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).