Nucor released its guidance for Q4 2011 on Thursday, announcing that results are expected to be in the range of $0.22 to $0.27 per diluted share, which represents an improvement over Q4 2010's loss of $0.04 per diluted share, but a decrease from Q3 2011 earnings of $0.57 per diluted share.
In a press release, the company said that "the deterioration in the fourth quarter reflects lower steel prices and metal margins, particularly for sheet and plate mill products, due to increased imports that began in the second quarter and new domestic sheet mill supply."
Additionally, "increased competitive pricing pressure and volatile raw material costs, for both scrap and iron ore, contributed to buyer uncertainty and negatively impacted buying patterns early in the fourth quarter. As raw material costs have firmed late in the quarter and imports rates have slowed, order rates and selling prices have improved. While we have seen price increases across all steel mill products just recently, the margin benefit will not fully impact our operating results before the end of the year."
Looking ahead to 2012, the company said it expects "continued stability in order rates and pricing as we begin 2012 due to recent strengthening in raw material prices, continued low inventory levels held by our customers and the normal seasonal improvement in order rates in the early part of the year. End markets such as automotive, heavy equipment, energy and general manufacturing have continued to experience some real demand improvement, benefiting special bar quality, sheet and plate products."