Nucor Corporation today announced consolidated net earnings of $386.5 million for the second quarter of 2019. By comparison, Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $501.8 million for the first quarter of 2019 and $683.2 million for the second quarter of 2018.
Nucor's consolidated net sales decreased 3 percent to $5.90 billion in the second quarter of 2019 compared with $6.10 billion in the first quarter of 2019 and decreased 9 percent compared with $6.46 billion in the second quarter of 2018. Average sales price per ton in the second quarter of 2019 decreased 3 percent compared with the first quarter of 2019 and decreased 2 percent compared with the second quarter of 2018.
A total of 6,724,000 tons were shipped to outside customers in the second quarter of 2019, a 1 percent decrease from first quarter of 2019 and a 7 percent decrease from the second quarter of 2018. Total steel mill shipments in the second quarter of 2019 decreased 3 percent from the first quarter of 2019 and decreased 10 percent from the second quarter of 2018. Downstream steel products shipments to outside customers in the second quarter of 2019 increased 2 percent from the first quarter of 2019 and decreased 4 percent from the second quarter of 2018.
Commenting on the results, Nucor Chairman, CEO and President John Ferriola said, “Unusually wet weather and aggressive supply chain destocking impacted mill order rates in the first half of 2019. We have seen lower volumes during the first half of this year resulting in a more challenging price environment. However, real demand for our products remains strong in key end-use markets. We see healthy conditions in end-use markets that typically account for more than two thirds of our steel shipments. For this reason, we are cautiously optimistic that pricing has bottomed for most products and that volumes should be more closely aligned with real end-use demand in the second half of the year.”
As for a third quarter outlook, Nucor said in a statement that the performance of the raw materials segment is expected to decrease in the third quarter of 2019 as compared to the second quarter of 2019 due to further margin compression in the company's DRI businesses.
The profitability of Nucor's steel products segment is expected to continue to improve during the third quarter of 2019 as compared to the second quarter of 2019, the company said, adding that nonresidential construction market conditions remain strong, and recently implemented efficiency initiatives in rebar fabrication and metal buildings are “enhancing performance from those businesses.”
“We expect the performance of the steel mills segment in the third quarter of 2019 to be lower than this year's second quarter, due primarily to lower prices for flat rolled and plate steel,” the company said. “Prices for several key product lines have only recently reversed the downward trajectory that prevailed during the first half of the year due to weather conditions and service center destocking. We expect service center customers will resume more normal market demand-driven buying patterns during the third quarter of 2019.”