Yahoo Finance Nucor (NUE) Set to Construct $350 Million Rebar Micro Mill
Nucor Corporation’s NUE board has approved the construction of a rebar micro mill, with spooling capabilities, in the South Atlantic region. It will be Nucor's third rebar micro mill, joining its existing micro mills in Missouri and Florida. The budgeted capital expenditure for the new micro mill is $350 million. The mill will have an annual capacity of 430,000 tons.
Of late, Nucor has successfully executed two rebar micro mill start-ups. It expects supply needs for rebar in the East Coast market to rise in the coming years, especially after the recent passage of the infrastructure spending bill. Rebar has been a core business for the company since it got into steelmaking. Nucor stated that the project will enable it to maintain its leadership position in the rebar market.
Rebar, used primarily in constructing roads, buildings, sidewalks and other structures, has witnessed resilient demand characteristics over the last 20 years. The United States produces most of the rebar used domestically, and rebar imports have decreased in recent years due to strong trade enforcement.
Nucor’s 15 bar mills, strategically located across the country, manufacture a broad range of steel products, including concrete reinforcing bars, hot-rolled bars, rounds, light shapes, structural angles, channels, wire rods and highway products in carbon and alloy steels. They serve numerous end markets, including the agricultural, automotive, construction, energy, furniture, machinery, metal building, railroad, recreational equipment, shipbuilding, heavy truck and trailer market segments. Nucor has an estimated bar steel production capacity of roughly 9.5 million tons per year.
Nucor’s shares have surged 97.1% over the past year compared with the industry’s 30.5% rise. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for the current year is pegged at 583.2%.
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On its third-quarter earnings call, Nucor stated that it sees continued strong results in the fourth quarter, with earnings potentially exceeding the record-level set in the third quarter. The company expects strong demand across most end-use markets to continue into 2022.
Nucor expects improved profitability in the steel mills segment in the fourth quarter on a sequential basis on additional earnings growth at its sheet and plate mills. The company also sees higher profitability in the steel products segment in the fourth quarter. However, earnings in the raw materials segment are forecast to decline sequentially in the fourth quarter due to margin compression at its direct reduced iron facilities.
Nucor Corporation Price and Consensus
Nucor Corporation price-consensus-chart | Nucor Corporation Quote
Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks
Nucor currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Other top-ranked stocks from the basic materials space include AdvanSix Inc. ASIX, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and The Chemours Company CC and Celanese Corporation CE, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
AdvanSix has an expected earnings growth rate of 197% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has been revised 14.1% upward over the past 60 days.
AdvanSix beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in all the four trailing quarters with an earnings surprise of 47%, on average. ASIX’s shares have also surged 118.3% over a year.
Chemours has an expected earnings growth rate of 105.1% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has been revised 10% upward over the past 60 days.
Chemours beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in all the four trailing quarters with an earnings surprise of 34.24%, on average. CC’s shares have risen 14.3% over a year.
Celanese has an expected earnings growth rate of 139.7% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has been revised 9.1% upward over the last 60 days.
Celanese beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in all of the four trailing quarters and pulled off an earnings surprise of 12.7%, on average. Shares of CE have rallied around 21.1% over a year.
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