March 20, 2006 — Nucor Corp. and Lennar Corp. announced that their respective wholly owned subsidiaries, Nucon Steel Commercial Corp. of Denton, Texas, and LFB Engineered Systems, Inc. of Stockton, Calif., have formed a new joint venture, Nexframe, LP.

Nexframe will provide comprehensive light gauge steel framing solutions for residential construction markets across the nation. It will be co-managed by Nucon and LFB and will be based in LFB's current facilities located in Stockton, Calif.

"Nucor believes the opportunity for the use of light gauge steel framing in residential construction is significant today, is growing and will continue to grow in the future. We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to form this joint venture with a Lennar company and believe there are a great many synergies between our two companies that the joint venture can immediately begin to capitalize upon," said Don Moody, Nucon's General Manager. "With Nucor's manufacturing prowess and Lennar's homebuilding expertise, I don't think you could come up with a better partnership to enable the use of light gauge steel framing for residential construction," said Dave Ball, LFB's General Manager. Ball further added, "Both companies had been working on parallel yet separate paths, and combining our efforts via Nexframe will enable us to jump us ahead much faster."

"We have a great deal of respect for Lennar and their position in the homebuilding industry and are very optimistic about Nexframe. We believe it will provide an outstanding platform for expanding the use of light gauge steel framing across the nation," said Hamilton Lott, Nucor's Executive Vice President.

"This joint venture and the opportunities for simplifying the construction process fit well with Lennar's focus on increasing consumer value through process improvement, efficiency gains and cost reduction initiatives," said Jon Jaffe, Lennar's Chief Operating Officer. We know Nucor is as serious about this endeavor as we are and we are very optimistic about working with them to realize its full potential," Jaffe added.

Dan DiMicco, Nucor's CEO, and Stuart Miller, Lennar's CEO, share their respective teams' enthusiasm for this joint venture and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship between their two companies.

Nucon is headquartered in Denton, Texas, and operates manufacturing facilities in Denton, Texas, and Dallas, Ga. Nucon's products include integrated software, automated roll forming and fabrication systems for the design and manufacture of light gauge steel panels and trusses.

LFB designs, manufactures and fabricates light gauge steel framing packages for residential production builders in California. LFB also provides field framing services. LFB's headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Stockton, Calif.

Nucor and its affiliates manufacture steel products, with operating facilities in sixteen states. Products include carbon and alloy steel bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; and light gauge steel framing. Nucor is the nation's largest recycler.