Speaking during a quarterly earnings call with analysts, Ferriola said Nucor’s auto steel shipments have increased by 50% over the last three years, reaching 1.4 million tons in 2016. 

And with new orders in hand for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 model years, Nucor believes it will achieve the targeted annual shipment rate in 2018, despite softening demand for cars and trucks.  

“There's no doubt in my mind that there's some weakening going to be occurring. (However), our market share of automotive continues to grow. So when you look at how we've gone over the last several years and how we anticipate growing over the next couple of years, we will be getting a bigger piece of a smaller pie,” Ferriola said.