Nucor Corporation announced consolidated net earnings of $386.5 million, or $1.26 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2019. By comparison, Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $501.8 million, or $1.63 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2019 and $683.2 million, or $2.13 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2018.
Included in the first quarter of 2019 results was a benefit of $33.7 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, related to the gain on the sale of an equity method investment. Included in the second quarter results was a benefit of $23.3 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, related to insurance recoveries.
In the first half of 2019, Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $888.3 million, or $2.88 per diluted share, compared with consolidated net earnings of $1.04 billion, or $3.23 per diluted share, in the first half of last year.
“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,” said John Ferriola, Nucor’s Chairman, chief executive officer and president.
He continued, “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.”
The average scrap and scrap substitute cost per ton used during the second quarter of 2019 was $330, a 6 percent decrease compared to $352 in the first quarter and a decrease of 12 percent compared to $373 in the same quarter of 2018. The average scrap and scrap substitute cost per ton used in the first half of 2019 was $341, a decrease of 4 percent from 2018.
Published in the August 2019 Edition