Nucor Corporation today announced consolidated net earnings of $275.0 million for the third quarter of 2019. By comparison, Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $386.5 million for the second quarter of 2019 and $676.7 million for the third quarter of 2018.
Total steel shipments in Q3 reached 2.66 million nt, compared to 2.73 million nt in Q3 2018. Sales to outside customers totaled 4.56 million nt in Q3, compared to 5.03 million nt in Q3 2018.
Overall operating rates at the company's steel mills decreased to 83 percent in the third quarter of 2019 as compared to 84 percent in the second quarter of 2019 and 92 percent in the third quarter of 2018. Operating rates for the first nine months of 2019 decreased to 85 percent as compared to 93 percent for the first nine months of 2018.
Commenting on the results, Chairman and CEO John Ferriola said, “After a brief summer rally, plate and sheet market conditions softened in the third quarter. Excess inventory throughout the supply chain has resulted in continued destocking by our customers. However, spending in the nonresidential construction market remained at healthy levels during the third quarter, and we delivered continued strong performance from our metal buildings, piling, joist and deck divisions; as well as improved performance in our rebar fabrication divisions.”
As for a Q4 outlook, the company said in a press release that earnings in the fourth quarter of 2019 are expected to decrease as compared to the third quarter of 2019.
“We expect earnings in the steel mills segment to further decrease in the fourth quarter of 2019 from the third quarter, as lower steel prices at the end of the third quarter, which we believe have bottomed, impact our fourth quarter results,” the company said. “The profitability of the steel products segment in the fourth quarter of 2019 is expected to decrease slightly from the third quarter of 2019 due to normal year-end seasonality. The performance of the raw materials segment is expected to decline in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to the third quarter of 2019 due to the impact of our Louisiana DRI plant's planned outage continuing until mid-November – as well as expected further margin pressure throughout our raw materials businesses.”