Nucor Corporation announced consolidated net earnings $1.14 billion for the third quarter of 2023, compared to consolidated net earnings of $1.46 billion for the second quarter of 2023 and $1.69 billion for the third quarter of 2022.
Nucor's consolidated net sales decreased 8 percent to $8.78 billion in the third quarter of 2023 compared with $9.52 billion in the second quarter of 2023 and decreased 16 percent compared with $10.50 billion in the third quarter of 2022.
In a press release, the company said average sales price per ton in the third quarter of 2023 decreased 3 percent compared with the second quarter of 2023 and decreased 14 percent compared with the third quarter of 2022.
A total of 6,240,000 tons were shipped to outside customers in the third quarter of 2023, a 5 percent decrease from the second quarter of 2023 and a 3 percent decrease from the third quarter of 2022, Nucor said. Total steel mill shipments in the third quarter of 2023 decreased 4 percent as compared to the second quarter of 2023 and decreased 2 percent as compared to the third quarter of 2022.
Steel mill shipments to internal customers represented 20 percent of total steel mill shipments in the third quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2023, compared with 22 percent in the third quarter of 2022, Nucor said. Downstream steel product shipments to outside customers in the third quarter of 2023 decreased 4 percent from the second quarter of 2023 and decreased 12 percent from the third quarter of 2022.
Overall operating rates at the company's steel mills decreased to 77 percent in the third quarter of 2023 as compared to 84 percent in the second quarter of 2023 and 77 percent in the third quarter of 2022.
As for an outlook, the company said it expects earnings in the fourth quarter of 2023 to decrease compared to the third quarter of 2023 due primarily to lower pricing across all three operating segments, and, to a lesser extent, decreased volumes.
In the steel mills segment, Nucor expects the decrease in realized pricing to be most pronounced at its sheet mills. In the steel products segment, the company expects decreased earnings due to moderating average selling prices at most of the product groups within the steel products segment and lower volumes. Earnings for the raw materials segment are expected to decrease in the fourth quarter of 2023 as compared to the third quarter of 2023 due to lower pricing for raw materials and planned outages at Nucor’s DRI facilities.