Nucor Corporation announced today a fourth quarter of 2015 consolidated net loss of $62.0 million after impairment charges related to the company’s Duferdofin Nucor S.r.l. joint venture and an $84.1 million ($0.17 per diluted share) impairment charge on assets related to the current blast furnace project that will not be utilized in the future at the St. James Parish, Louisiana site.
This compares with consolidated net earnings of $227.1 million for the third quarter of 2015 and consolidated net earnings of $210.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $357.7 million for the full year 2015, which compares with consolidated net earnings of $713.9 million for the full year 2014.
For the full year 2015, Nucor's consolidated net sales decreased 22% to $16.44 billion, compared with $21.11 billion for 2014. Total tons shipped to outside customers were 22,680,000, a decrease of 11% from the full year 2014.
Nucor's consolidated net sales decreased 18% to $3.46 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with $4.23 billion in the third quarter of 2015 and decreased 31% compared with $5.00 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014. Average sales price per ton decreased 6% from the third quarter of 2015 and decreased 18% from the fourth quarter of 2014. Total tons shipped to outside customers were 5,107,000 tons in the fourth quarter of 2015, a 13% decrease from the third quarter of 2015 and a decrease of 16% from the fourth quarter of 2014. Total fourth quarter steel mill shipments decreased 14% from the third quarter of 2015 and decreased 16% from the fourth quarter of 2014. Fourth quarter downstream steel products shipments to outside customers decreased 13% from the third quarter of 2015 and increased 1% over the fourth quarter of 2014.
In a statement, the company commented on its 2016 outlook: “We anticipate some improvement in the steel mills segment in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the fourth quarter of 2015 due to a lower average cost of inventory to begin the first quarter and a modest improvement in market conditions. Positive market factors include a small decline in import volumes and more balanced inventory levels at service center customers. The profitability of our downstream products segment in the first quarter of 2016 is expected to decrease from the fourth quarter of 2015 as typical winter seasonality has its greatest impact on nonresidential construction markets in the first quarter. Conditions in nonresidential construction markets will improve as we enter the construction season in the second quarter, and we expect another strong year in 2016 for this segment. We anticipate some slight improvement in the performance of the raw materials segment in the first quarter of 2016 primarily due to the absence of the maintenance outage at Nucor Steel Louisiana that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2015 and improved margins in our scrap recycling business. However, market conditions in the raw materials segment will continue to be extremely challenging due to the overall depressed and volatile levels of pricing for raw materials.”
For the full year 2015, Nucor's consolidated net sales decreased 22% to $16.44 billion, compared with $21.11 billion for 2014. Total tons shipped to outside customers were 22,680,000, a decrease of 11% from the full year 2014.
Nucor's consolidated net sales decreased 18% to $3.46 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with $4.23 billion in the third quarter of 2015 and decreased 31% compared with $5.00 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014. Average sales price per ton decreased 6% from the third quarter of 2015 and decreased 18% from the fourth quarter of 2014. Total tons shipped to outside customers were 5,107,000 tons in the fourth quarter of 2015, a 13% decrease from the third quarter of 2015 and a decrease of 16% from the fourth quarter of 2014. Total fourth quarter steel mill shipments decreased 14% from the third quarter of 2015 and decreased 16% from the fourth quarter of 2014. Fourth quarter downstream steel products shipments to outside customers decreased 13% from the third quarter of 2015 and increased 1% over the fourth quarter of 2014.
In a statement, the company commented on its 2016 outlook: “We anticipate some improvement in the steel mills segment in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the fourth quarter of 2015 due to a lower average cost of inventory to begin the first quarter and a modest improvement in market conditions. Positive market factors include a small decline in import volumes and more balanced inventory levels at service center customers. The profitability of our downstream products segment in the first quarter of 2016 is expected to decrease from the fourth quarter of 2015 as typical winter seasonality has its greatest impact on nonresidential construction markets in the first quarter. Conditions in nonresidential construction markets will improve as we enter the construction season in the second quarter, and we expect another strong year in 2016 for this segment. We anticipate some slight improvement in the performance of the raw materials segment in the first quarter of 2016 primarily due to the absence of the maintenance outage at Nucor Steel Louisiana that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2015 and improved margins in our scrap recycling business. However, market conditions in the raw materials segment will continue to be extremely challenging due to the overall depressed and volatile levels of pricing for raw materials.”