Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor Corporation saw significantly improved profitability from Q1 to Q2, as price increases for steel mill products caught up with higher raw material costs.
Nucor expects Q2 results to be in the range of $0.75 to $0.80 per diluted share, representing an increase of 160-180 percent over Q2 2010 earnings of $0.29 per diluted share, and an increase of 50-60 percent over Q1 2011 earnings of $0.50 per diluted share.
Nucor also said that the company believes that end markets such as automotive, heavy equipment, energy, and general manufacturing have experienced some real demand improvement. Improvement in real demand is most evident in special bar quality, sheet and plate products sold to the manufacturing, industrial and energy sectors. The most challenging markets for Nucor's products continue to be those associated with residential and non-residential construction.
"The increases in profits were achieved despite the rebalancing by our customers of supply chain inventories, the impact on the manufacturing/auto sector after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the lost sales, production and shipments from the weather-related power outages in North America," said Nucor in a press release.