In its quarterly earnings release Thursday, Nucor announced net earnings of $84.8 million for Q1 2013, compared to earnings of $145.1 million in Q1 2012 and net earnings of $136.9 million in Q4 2012.
Nucor's consolidated net sales decreased 10 percent to $4.55 billion in Q1 2013 from $5.07 billion in Q1 2012 and increased 2 percent compared with $4.45 billion in Q4 2012. Average sales prices per ton decreased 7 percent from Q1 2012 and decreased 2 percent from Q4 2012. Total tons shipped to outside customers were 5,706,000 tons in Q1 2013, a 4 percent decrease from Q1 2012 and a 4 percent increase over Q4 2012. Operating rates fell substantially in Q1 2013 to 72 percent at Nucor's steel mills, compared to 79 percent in Q1 2012. Still, the operating rate was up 71 percent from Q4 2012.
Nucor said that overall, its steel mills have not experienced the seasonal improvement in volume and pricing that is typical in Q1. In Q2, the company expects to see some improvement in earnings driven by better performance in the fabricated construction products businesses, raw materials businesses and most steel mill product groups, partially offset by weaker performance in sheet steel.