According to its fourth-quarter earnings guidance, Nucor expects to report earnings of in the range of US$4.25 to US$4.35 per diluted share. A year prior, it reported earnings of US$7.97 per diluted share. 

Nucor said its sheet mills are expected to see the largest decline in profitability, but shipments from its bar mills are likely to end lower “due to seasonal factors with customers reducing inventories as year-end approaches,” the company said. 

Nevertheless, Nucor said it remains on track to report a record year, with earnings expected to exceed the US$23.16 per diluted share it recorded in 2021.

Separately, Nucor announced that it will expand its downstream towers and structures business, building two greenfield production plants at undetermined locations in the Midwest and Southeast. 

"As our nation continues to replace its aging electric grid, extend transmission infrastructure to connect renewable generation locations and modernize its digital network, we see tremendous growth potential in the need to build this critical infrastructure using some of the cleanest, most sustainable steel in the world," said Nucor chairman and chief executive Leon Topalian. "The growth of Nucor Towers & Structures is further execution of our strategy."

Nucor created it towers and structures business earlier this year through the acquisition of Utility Structures LLC, a producer of metal poles and steel structures for utility infrastructure in eastern Pennsylvania.

Nucor said the former Utility Structures primarily serves customers in the Northeast, and the goal is to establish a national footprint with the addition of the new plants, whose locations are being evaluated. 

An expanded footprint will allow it to capture growing demand for utility infrastructure components, which is being driven by grid hardening and replacements, renewable energy projects, and population growth, Nucor said. 

The transmission tower production plants will be highly automated, Nucor said, and will include advanced hot-dip galvanizing operations. 

“Each facility will utilize highly efficient straight-line production and will increase Nucor Towers & Structures' capabilities to provide engineered solutions for utility infrastructure and construction projects,” the company said.