For the quarter ending 3 July 2021, the company reported net earnings of US$1.5 billion on net sales of US$8.8 billion. Steel mill shipments rose to 6.7 million tons during the quarter.

The company said it expects its third-quarter earnings to top the second quarter.  

“Virtually all the steel end-use markets that we monitor are growing,” Nucor chief executive Leon Topalian told analysts during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. 

“Some of this growth may simply be catch-up from the pandemic-induced economic lull we experienced here in the U.S., but we think it goes beyond a temporary rebound. One sign of this is the increasing confidence about next year that we sense from our customers ranging from automotive, trucking, heavy and ag equipment, and across the construction sector.”

Separately, the company said it is looking to start two expanded facilities by year’s end. 

Nucor chief operating officer David A. Sumoski told analysts during the second-quarter earnings call that the expanded meltshop at Nucor’s Gallatin sheet mill in Kentucky and its 500,000-ton galvanizing line at its Hickman plant in Arkansas remain on track for late-year starts. 

“We're really excited about the expanded capabilities that those projects will bring,” Sumoski said. 

A US$325 million investment, the galvanizing line will complement the new cold mill at the Hickman plant. The cold mill began operating in 2019, and Sumoski told analysts that it is running above nameplate capacity.