Nucor Corporation today announced record quarterly consolidated net earnings of $942.4 million for the first quarter of 2021, the highest quarterly earnings in the company’s history, it said in a statement. By comparison, Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $398.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2020 and $20.3 million for the first quarter of 2020.
Nucor's consolidated net sales increased 33 percent to $7.02 billion in the first quarter of 2021 compared with $5.26 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020 and increased 25 percent compared with $5.62 billion in the first quarter of 2020.
Average sales price per ton in the first quarter of 2021 increased 21 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2020 and increased 25 percent compared with the first quarter of 2020.
A total of 7,176,000 tons were shipped to outside customers in the first quarter of 2021, an 11 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2020 and a slight decrease from the first quarter of 2020. Total steel mill shipments in the first quarter of 2021 increased 13 percent as compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 and increased 1 percent as compared to the first quarter of 2020. Steel mill shipments to internal customers represented 21 percent of total steel mill shipments in the first quarter of 2021, compared with 19 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 20 percent in the first quarter of 2020. Downstream steel product shipments to outside customers in the first quarter of 2021 increased 4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2020 and decreased 4 percent from the first quarter of 2020.
Overall operating rates at the company's steel mills increased to 95 percent in the first quarter of 2021 as compared to 87 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 89 percent in the first quarter of 2020.
In a press release, the company said all three Nucor segments generated strong results in the first quarter of 2021. The steel mills segment benefitted from strong demand and higher average selling prices. The sheet, bar, plate and structural mills had increased profitability in the first quarter of 2021 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, with the largest increase by sheet mills. The steel products segment had another strong quarter as profitability increased from fourth quarter of 2020. The raw materials segment profitability increased dramatically compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 due to increased selling prices for raw materials.
The company said it expects earnings in the second quarter of 2021 to be the highest quarterly earnings in Nucor history, surpassing the record set in the first quarter of 2021. The primary drivers for the expected increase in earnings in the second quarter of 2021 as compared to the first quarter of 2021 are improved pricing and margins in the steel mills segment. The segment's largest increases in performance are expected at the sheet and plate mills. The steel products segment is expected to have another strong quarter in the second quarter of 2021 that will be comparable to the first quarter of 2021. The profitability of the raw materials segment is expected to decrease in the second quarter of 2021 as compared to the first quarter of 2021 due to rising raw materials input costs.