Nucor reports Q2 loss of $133 million

Nucor Corporation reported its second quarter financial results Thursday, which include a consolidated net loss of $133.3 million. This figure is down sharply from the $580.8 earned in Q2 2008, but represents a 30 percent improvement from the firm's Q1 performance.

The company's net loss for the first half of 2009 totaled $323.0 million on a 57 percent drop in net sales from a year ago.

In the second quarter of 2009, Nucor's net sales dropped by 65 percent to $2.48 billion compared to sales of $7.09 billion in the second quarter of 2008. Compared to the first quarter of this year, net sales were down seven percent. Average sales price per ton decreased 34 percent from Q2 2008 and was down 16 percent from Q1 2009. Tons shipped to outside customers totaled 4.1 million nt, down 47 percent from last year, but up 11 percent from Q1 2009.

First half sales dropped to $5.13 billion, compared to $12.06 billion in last year's first half. Average sales price per ton decreased 23 percent, while total tons shipped to outside customers fell 45 percent.

The average scrap and scrap substitute cost per ton used in the second quarter of 2009 was $312, a decrease of six percent compared with $333 in the first quarter of 2009 and a decrease of 32 percent from $456 in the second quarter of 2008. The average scrap and scrap substitute cost per ton used in the first half of 2009 was $322, a decrease of 19 percent from $396 in the first half of 2008.

Meanwhile, Nucor's overall mill utilization increased slightly from 45 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 46 percent in the second quarter of 2009, and decreased from 95 percent in last year's second quarter. Utilization rates decreased from 94 percent in the first half of 2008 to 46 percent in the first half of 2009.

A press release issued from the firm commented, “As expected and as discussed in our guidance, second quarter results include a substantially greater burden than the first quarter from the accelerated consumption of high-cost pig iron inventories at our sheet mills. This impact was partially offset by the strong focus on overall cost reductions by all members of the Nucor team. We expect the overhang from the high-cost pig iron will continue to impact our results through the third quarter. If we continue to see improvement in order entry and operating rates, our raw material de-stocking process would be accelerated with a corresponding improvement in earnings.”