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DATE
Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. ET
CALL PARTICIPANTS
President and Chief Executive Officer — Leon Topalian
Chief Financial Officer — Stephen D. Laxton
Executive Vice President, Commercial — John Hollatz
Executive Vice President, Plate and Structural Products — Brad Ford
Executive Vice President, Raw Materials and Sustainability — Albert
Executive Vice President, Products — Randy J. Spicer
Executive Vice President, Sheet and Tubular Products — Noah Hanners
Chief Operating Officer — David A. Sumoski
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RISKS
Management expects consolidated earnings to be nominally lower in Q3 2025 due to anticipated margin compression in the steel mills segment.
Start-up and pre-operating costs remain significant, with guidance of $140 million–$150 million per quarter in the second half of 2025; this continues to pressure reported net earnings until new assets fully ramp.
Tariff impacts, especially potential 50% tariffs on imports from Brazil, could increase input costs, particularly for slab and pig iron purchases, if the tariffs go into effect on August 1.
Negative free cash flow in the first half of 2025, primarily due to a working capital build of over $620 million in Q2 2025 and high capital expenditures, was highlighted by management.
TAKEAWAYS
EBITDA—EBITDA reached approximately $1.3 billion in Q2 2025, a marked increase from the first quarter, primarily due to higher average selling prices in the steel mills segment and stable realized pricing on higher volumes in the steel products segment.
Net earnings—$603 million in net earnings, equating to $2.60 per diluted share in Q2 2025 (GAAP), a sharp increase from $0.77 in adjusted earnings per share in the prior quarter and close to the reported $2.68 per share posted in Q2 2024.
Capital allocation—$329 million was returned to shareholders in Q2 2025 through dividends and buybacks, totaling $758 million year-to-date in the first half of 2025, representing nearly 100% of reported net earnings for the year-to-date period.
Capital expenditures—$954 million in capital expenditures in Q2 2025, with full-year CapEx guidance maintained at approximately $3 billion for 2025, implying lower spending in the second half.
Steel mills segment pretax earnings—$843 million in pretax earnings for the steel mills segment in Q2 2025, more than triple the prior quarter, driven predominantly by higher average selling prices in sheet and plate operations in Q2 2025.
Steel products segment pretax earnings—$392 million, up 28% from the prior quarter (adjusted basis) in Q2 2025, with every major product group at or above previous quarter levels.
Raw materials segment pretax earnings—$57 million, an approximate 95% increase over the prior quarter in Q2 2025, with steady volumes and pricing.
Backlogs—Steel mills backlog rose nearly 30% and steel products backlog grew approximately 20% compared to a year ago as of Q2 2025; sheet order backlog increased 15% in Q2 2025.
Average spot HRC price—Maintained within a 5% range around $900 per ton over the past sixteen weeks, indicating stable pricing.
Steel sheet shipments—Nearly 3.1 million tons were shipped by the sheet-making group in Q2 2025, marking a second consecutive quarterly record for the Sheet Group.
BEAM segment—Delivered over 630,000 tons in Q2 2025 with the highest quarterly earnings since 2022 for the BEAM business.
Pre-operating and start-up costs—$136 million in pre-operating and start-up costs in Q2 2025, a $34 million decrease from the prior quarter.
Debt management—$1 billion of long-term debt retired; debt-to-capital ratio was approximately 24% in Q2 2025 with $2.5 billion in cash as of Q2 2025.
Share repurchases—Approximately 4 million shares were repurchased at an average of $124 per share in the first half of 2025.
Utilization rate—Steel mill segment operated at roughly 85% utilization in Q2 2025.
Segment EBITDA margins—Steel products segment reported an LTM EBITDA margin of approximately 16% and accounted for 45% of total pretax segment earnings on an LTM basis ending June 30, 2025.
SUMMARY
Nucor(NUE -0.65%) management highlighted sustained demand across technology, infrastructure, energy, and data center markets as key growth drivers for both steel mills and products businesses. The project pipeline advanced on schedule in Q2 2025, with the Brandenburg plate mill achieving EBITDA-positive status and new facilities in Lexington and Kingman ramping up production, which is expected to increase future earnings contributions. The company noted benefits from newly enacted U.S. trade and manufacturing incentives and emphasized resilience through flexible raw material sourcing strategies to mitigate tariff-related cost pressures. Representatives indicated a constructive free cash flow outlook for the second half, based on expectations for a working capital release and tapering capital expenditures.
Longer-term visibility for realized pricing and order flow is supported by healthy backlogs and quoting activity.
Tariff risks are being managed through supply diversification, with pig iron now representing only 7%-8% of company melt as of Q2 2025, down 50% from five years ago.
The steel products segment now contributes close to 45%-46% of total company net earnings (LTM basis), up from 15% pre-pandemic, reflecting portfolio transformation efforts.
The company projects slightly lower profitability in tubular and joist-and-deck businesses in Q3 2025, expected to be offset by improved performance in other product lines within the segment.
Segment leaders noted the opportunity for margin expansion in bar and beam products as backlogs reach multiyear highs, fueled by strong infrastructure and industrial project demand, as discussed on the Q2 2025 earnings call regarding the outlook for the second half of 2025.
Current mitigation strategies include increased self-supply and global sourcing flexibility.
Management emphasized that if the planned 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports do not go into effect, there is clear upside potential relative to the Q3 2025 earnings forecast.
Energy costs increased year over year for Nucor in Q2 2025 and are currently running at just over $40 per ton in steelmaking as of Q2 2025, with the expectation of relative stability in coming quarters.
INDUSTRY GLOSSARY
MBQ: Merchant Bar Quality — a grade of steel bar used in construction and manufacturing, offering basic chemical and mechanical properties suitable for general applications.
DRI: Direct Reduced Iron — a raw material produced by reducing iron ore in its solid state, used as a feedstock in electric arc furnace steelmaking.
HRC: Hot Rolled Coil — a product form of steel sheet or strip rolled at high temperature for use in many applications, especially construction and manufacturing.
IIJA: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — major U.S. legislation funding a variety of infrastructure projects that drive steel demand.
Pig iron: A semi-finished iron product obtained by smelting iron ore, used as a primary raw material in steelmaking.
Full Conference Call Transcript
Leon Topalian: Thanks, Jack. Now I want to begin by thanking our 33,000 Nucor Corporation teammates for delivering a solid quarter both in terms of financial results and our safety performance. Amid all the uncertainty and distractions, you have remained focused on executing our growth strategy and creating value for our shareholders, customers, and communities. And you did it all while setting another all-time safety record for the first half of any year. Thank you for your vigilance and focus and never losing sight of our most important value. Let's continue to carry that momentum into the back half of the year.
To recap some of the second quarter financials, Nucor Corporation generated EBITDA of approximately $1.3 billion and earned $2.60 per diluted share. This represents a significant improvement over our first quarter results, driven by higher average selling prices in our steel mills segment and stable realized pricing in higher volumes in our steel product segment. During the quarter, we returned $329 million to Nucor Corporation shareholders through dividends and buybacks, bringing our total capital return to shareholders for the first half of the year to $758 million. Capital expenditures for the quarter totaled $954 million, and we remain on track to deploy approximately $3 billion CapEx for the year.
Our team continues to execute well, and I'd like to highlight just a few of our accomplishments for the quarter. Production levels and shipments at our Brandenburg plate mill trended higher for a sixth consecutive quarter. Shipments in June reached another record, helping Brandenburg achieve positive EBITDA for the quarter. Meanwhile, Brandenburg's product development team continues to strengthen its market position with key customers for complex grades of steel plate that we have not been able to produce prior. I'd also like to recognize our entire sheet-making group for shipping nearly 3.1 million tons during the second quarter, marking the second consecutive quarter where the Sheet Group has set a new shipment record.
In particular, I'd like to congratulate our team at Gallatin Sheet Mill in Kentucky for setting a new monthly shipping record during the quarter. On our first quarter earnings call, I mentioned our structural steel backlog reaching historically high levels, and that set us up nicely for strong shipments in the second quarter. Nucor Corporation's BEAM team delivered shipping over 630,000 tons and generating the highest quarterly earnings for this business since 2022 and the fourth highest of all time. On the growth front, our construction teams continue to make great progress as we near completion of several important capital projects.
A rebar micro mill in Lexington, North Carolina, recently rolled its first heat and is now in the early stages of ramping up production. And the team in Kingman, Arizona, has successfully melted, cast, and rolled several heats out of its new melt shop, and it will be ramping up production throughout the third quarter. For Nucor Towers and Structures, pole production and galvanizing operations in Alabama are set to begin by September, with customer shipments beginning in the fourth quarter. Our Indiana greenfield project is set to commence full operations by 2026, with customer shipments beginning in the second quarter.
Within sheet, we remain on schedule to complete our coating complex in Crawfordsville, Indiana, by 2025 and our galvanizing line in Berkeley, South Carolina, by 2026. The construction of our new West Virginia sheet mill is nearly 60% complete and remains on track for completion by 2026. A key driver of our quarterly results came from the strong performance of our steel products group. We have grown this business to become the broadest and most diverse portfolio of downstream steel products in North America, allowing Nucor Corporation to offer a wide variety of solutions for our customers. For the entire segment, second quarter pretax earnings were $392 million, a 28% increase over the adjusted results of the previous quarter.
In fact, pretax earnings for each of the main product groups comprising this segment were in line with or above Q1 levels. On an LTM basis, the steel products segment accounted for 45% of Nucor Corporation's total pretax segment earnings, with EBITDA margins of approximately 16%. Both of these metrics remain significantly higher than their respective pre-pandemic averages. Tariff policy continues to evolve but has been positive for the steel industry overall. We support the administration's recent actions to strengthen the Section 232 program by increasing the tariffs to 50%.
We also applaud the Commerce Department's decision earlier this year to expand the review of steel derivative products covered by the Section 232 tariffs and for implementing a transparent inclusion process. These steps will help to curb the volume of unfairly traded imports and protect our national security. However, dumped and subsidized imports continue to persist, and the vigorous enforcement of our trade laws is needed now more than ever. Nucor Corporation and other domestic producers have been injured by elevated levels of unfairly traded corrosion-resistant imports in recent years and filed trade petitions on core imports from 10 countries last September.
Nucor Corporation is pleased with the preliminary determinations from the US Commerce Department and US International Trade Commission in these investigations, and we anticipate affirmative final determinations from both agencies later this summer and fall. The Commerce Department and ITC have also initiated investigations into rebar imports from four countries, with the ITC issuing an affirmative preliminary injury determination earlier this month. Affirmative determinations in these cases and other trade proceedings are critical to ensuring a level playing field for the steel industry in America. We are optimistic that the administration's vigorous enforcement of our trade laws and the strengthened Section 232 program will result in a sustained reduction of imports into our market.
We're also monitoring the evolving country-specific tariff negotiations and their impact on raw material costs. Nucor Corporation's raw material supply chain is advantaged by having a broader set of capabilities than any other steel producer in North America. That diversity, along with our world-class sourcing and logistics teams, gives us flexibility to source raw materials in a way that optimizes our cost structure and adapts to this highly dynamic situation. Beyond trade policy, we were pleased to see the tax provisions and manufacturing incentives contained in the new legislation signed into law earlier this month. We expect the bill will lead to further economic growth and boost our competitiveness as a nation.
It will unleash new investments in steel-intensive projects and promote the reshoring of vital manufacturing while enhancing our national security. And as North America's largest and most capable steel products company, Nucor Corporation is incredibly well-positioned to support this growth. With that, let me turn it over to Steve, who will share additional information about our second quarter performance, the current demand environment for steel, and our outlook for the third quarter. Steve?
Stephen D. Laxton: Thank you, Leon, and thank you all for joining us on the call this morning. During the second quarter, Nucor Corporation generated net earnings of $603 million or $2.60 a share, right at the midpoint of our earnings guidance range. This represents a substantial improvement over the prior quarter's adjusted earnings per share of $0.77 and is similar to the reported $2.68 earnings per share during the second quarter of last year. Year-to-date, Nucor Corporation's adjusted earnings were $782 million or $3.37 a share. Our second quarter results included pre-operating and start-up costs of $136 million or $0.45 per share. This is down $34 million compared to the prior quarter and in line with the prior year's second quarter.
Turning to the segment level results for the quarter, the steel mills segment generated $843 million of pretax earnings, more than triple that of the prior quarter. Higher average selling prices, particularly in our sheet and plate operations, were the largest drivers of the change in profitability. Total volume for the steel mills segment was in line with the prior quarter, as increases in sheet, plate, and beam shipments were offset by lower bar shipments. We continue to see solid and steady booking rates. Our steel mills backlog at the end of the second quarter was up nearly 30% over this time last year. To comment briefly on the pricing environment, we would describe it as broadly stable.
Our published consumer spot price for HRC has been within a 5% band on either side of $900 a ton for the past sixteen weeks. During this period, we shipped record sheet volumes, and our sheet backlog at the end of the second quarter was 15% higher than the same time last year. As for rebar and MBQ products, we've recently announced price increases that take our average selling price for both products above the respective thirteen and fifty-two-week averages. We continue to see healthy overall demand for long products, and we expect lower rebar imports during the second half of the year. Turning to steel products, as Leon mentioned earlier, we saw another strong performance in this segment.
During the second quarter, steel products generated pretax earnings of $392 million, up 28% over the prior quarter's adjusted basis. Results were driven by stable realized pricing and higher volumes, leading to our best earnings quarter for this segment since 2024. Similar to steel mills, our backlog levels for the steel products segment remain healthy, up approximately 20% from a year ago, extending into 2026 for some products. We continue to see strong demand as evidenced by robust quoting activity and believe this reflects improved business confidence among our customers servicing the construction and infrastructure markets. In joist and deck, we are now seeing pricing for new orders at levels that are approaching our average backlog pricing.
As a result, prices and margins in this business are expected to stabilize above pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year. Turning to the raw material segment, we realized pretax earnings of approximately $57 million for the quarter, an increase of approximately 95% over the first quarter. Results were in line with expectations with stable volumes and pricing and lower operating expenses. Moving to the balance sheet, Nucor Corporation remains committed to maintaining a strong investment-grade credit profile. Nucor Corporation's credit ratings are the highest of any North American steel producer. We have long believed that our financial strength is a competitive advantage, allowing us to execute our strategy through various phases of the economic cycle.
During the quarter, we retired $1 billion in long-term debt with proceeds from our senior notes issued in March. We ended the second quarter with a total debt-to-capital ratio of approximately 24% and cash of approximately $2.5 billion. Our next substantial maturity is not until 2027, and more than 80% of our long-term debt maturities are after 2030. In addition to maintaining a strong balance sheet, a cornerstone of Nucor Corporation's capital allocation framework is to provide a meaningful direct return to shareholders. During the second quarter, we returned $329 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.
When combined with the first quarter, we returned $758 million of cash to shareholders, representing nearly 100% of Nucor Corporation's year-to-date net earnings. During the same period, we've repurchased approximately 4 million shares at a weighted average value of approximately $124 a share. Leon covered some of the factors impacting our markets, but now I'd like to touch on four of the larger macro themes that are driving demand. First, technology and advanced manufacturing. Since the passage of the CHIPS Act in 2022, we've seen announcements of over 90 technology and advanced manufacturing projects totaling over $450 billion in private investments. And that momentum has accelerated in 2025. These projects take time to move from announcement to construction.
We're seeing increased bidding and new order activity, which all require beam, rebar, joist and deck, and other downstream products. Second, infrastructure demand remains strong, driven by funds allocated and now flowing to projects under the IIJA. We've seen notable increases in public transit, highway bridge, and tunnel contract awards, and our bar and plate teams are responding to this demand. Nucor Corporation's bar shipments were 13% higher in the first half of the year. We also anticipate higher steel tube demand later this year as contracts progress for unfinished sections of the border wall. Third, energy.
In the energy sector, Nucor Corporation is seeing exceptional growth in power transmission, with the first half shipments to this market up 88% year over year. We've also seen significant increases in steel shipments related to solar and onshore wind projects. The recently enacted tax policy will likely lead to some incremental pull-ahead tons over the coming year. Additionally, our Brandenburg facility has been certified to supply line pipe for both LNG and oil pipeline projects, opening up new opportunities in this expanding market. Last but not least, data centers. Construction in this market remains particularly strong. According to the Dodge Construction Network, spending from construction starts is projected to grow 18% this year and an additional 26% in 2026.
Our beam orders for this segment have increased significantly and serve as a precursor to incremental demand for a variety of downstream products that Nucor Corporation supplies. We expect these growing market segments will continue to drive demand for steel and steel products for the foreseeable future. Turning to the third quarter outlook, we expect Nucor Corporation's consolidated earnings to be nominally lower than in the second quarter. In the steel mill segment, despite resilient backlogs and stable demand, we expect modest margin compression compared to the second quarter. In both the Steel Products and Raw Materials segments, earnings are expected to be similar to the second quarter.
For steel products, we expect slightly lower profitability in Tubular and joist and deck offset by improved performance in other business lines. As we look ahead to 2025, our expectation is that domestic steel demand will be higher than it was in 2024. And with the broadest range of capabilities in the North American steel market, we are confident in our ability to create value for our customers and shareholders as we capture a healthy share of that demand. With that, we'd like to hear from you and answer any questions you may have. Operator, please open the line for questions.
Operator: Thank you very much. We now have to open the lines for Q&A. And if you'd like to remove yourself from the line of questioning, it will be star followed by two. Our first question comes from Bill from JPMorgan. Bill, your line is now open.
Bill: Good morning, and thanks for taking my question. On steel products, you mentioned the margin compression. Can you break that down for us? Is that a statement of higher input cost?
Leon Topalian: I guess, how should we think about pricing directionally? You know, kind of flattish on a blended basis from the second to the third quarter? Trying to get a sense before the margin expands in the fourth quarter and on how we should think about the puts and takes.
Leon Topalian: Yeah, Bill. Let me kick it off, and then maybe I'll ask John Hollatz, sorry, EVP over that group, to touch on a few things. But I want to begin by thanking the men and women of the Nucor Corporation family. This is the safest start to the first half of any year in the history of our company, and I couldn't be more proud of how our team continues to generate and take care of one another in our most important value. Every metric, every result that we will talk about today and moving on, are generated through those team members.
And, again, to see that value exemplified as the safest first half of any year is an incredible achievement. So thank you for that. The second, to your question specifically, Bill, look, it's a great question. And, you know, we're talking earlier this morning before we got on the call. If we think about the resiliency of non-res construction and the construction market in general, that took off really post-COVID, and it has remained robust for a long period of time. And we anticipate that remaining robust. 2024 was not, like, a particularly great year. But as we look at the strength of their backlog, you're pushing six to nine months out.
So, really, what the nominal adjustment that we see in pricing isn't because the demand drivers are weak. It's the lag effect. And many of those orders were taken in late Q4, early Q1 of this year are now being realized and sold under those pricing. And so, in fact, we've just recently announced a price increase last week. So, again, the demand driver for this segment is really robust, and we expect them to remain that way throughout the rest of this year and quite frankly beyond. And so again, it's an incredibly important strong contributor or business segment.
We're proud of all the groups that make up that family, but again, as we move forward, we see strength in that market.
John Hollatz: Yeah, Bill. This is John Hollatz. Again, it's very normal for us to have margin expansion and contraction as we have movements in steel prices. Steve pointed to the joist and deck market and what we expect out of that in the second half of the year. Some of our debt, you gotta remember, we had a dozen different businesses in our downstream portfolio. Some of those backlogs are nine months out, so we have good visibility as to what those margins would look like. Some of those backlogs are six weeks out, so there's a lot of variation in that.
But I think it's important to note that many of these downstream businesses are custom-engineered products that have value-added solutions, and our teams have done an excellent job of separating pricing from movements in raw materials and really redefining the earnings profile of these businesses. And Leon, as Leon mentioned, demand remains solid, and we're optimistic about the future of downstream products.
Bill: Yeah. Thanks for that. And, Austin, thanks for highlighting the safety performance, strong results on that. My second question is on the steel mills. And nice to see utilization trends in the first half of the year. But among the steel products, which are running at relatively lower utilization? Or said another way, what is your biggest or best opportunity to displace imports as we look ahead to the second half of the year?
Leon Topalian: Yeah. Look. I'd tell you that really sits across the board. Our capabilities set is the most diverse within all North American steel producers. So whether we're talking tubular, joist deck, rebar, but there are some opportunities, right? We're running roughly 85% of utilization rates across the steel mill segment. So again, there's more opportunities in sheet. There's more opportunities in our plate group. We have more opportunities in rebar and some of our long products. But again, we're well-positioned to supply those. And, again, we don't just simply produce to stack backlogs up. We're producing the orders in most every case.
And so we're meeting the demand where it's at and again, have the flexibility to adapt and adjust very quickly while we're pleased to see what import levels are doing and coming down in the 2021%. They're still too high. We need to be in the low teens. And quite frankly, the North American steel industry can supply the needs of what's being required without having those imports come into the United States. So we're gonna continue to advocate for strong, fair trade, and balanced trade for, again, illegal imports being dumped and subsidized on the shores of the US.
Bill: Yeah. Thanks, Leon, and congrats on the strong execution.
Leon Topalian: Appreciate it, Bill.
Operator: Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Lawson Winder from Bank of America Securities. Lawson, your line is now open.
Lawson Winder: Thank you, operator, and good morning, Leon. Good morning, Steve. Thank you for today's update. I could ask about Lexington and Kingman and those ramp-ups. Congratulations on getting those to the cusp of being fully operational. Could you speak to the pre-operating start-up costs and period-by-period outlook for those assets as they start contributing to EBITDA positively?
Leon Topalian: Yes. Lawson, look, I'm going to touch on a couple of things and then let Steve kick off into the pre-operating start-up costs as they move through that start-up. But I want to begin with thanking our Lexington, North Carolina team and then that MicroVille and their start-up and congratulating them on their safety and how hard they've continued to focus on our customers and bring that mill up. We're excited about what this mill is gonna do. It's our third micro mill in the fleet alongside Frostproof and Sedalia. And, again, it's a market segment we know really well. We're excited about where that's geographically located as well in the Atlantic Corridor.
And so, again, we look for great things to come from them as they continue their start-up in Q3 and four. And as well at Kingman, Arizona, we're proud of the team that they've started their melt shop up now and will continue to ramp up in that asset. Again, it's geographically positioned incredibly well also. In a market that's growing and continues to grow. You know, the other point I'll mention maybe before Steve or Randy may want to share a few additional comments. You're starting to see the move into Nucor Corporation's bottom lines throughout the segment of contributors, like our team in Nucor Brandenburg and Plate Mill and the things that they've done. There and ramping up.
Nucor Gallatin and our Sheet Mill and Their Delivery. But We've Got Yet To Fully Realize The Impacts Of All Of That To The Bottom Line So Brandenburg is gonna continue to ramp Gallatin, Lexington, North Carolina, Kingman, Arizona, our towers and structures plants in Alabama, Indiana that will start up later this year in the spring of next as well as the Utah towers plant that'll begin late next year. The Galve lines at Crawfordsville and New Court Berkeley and finally, West Virginia. So you're seeing the start of the bottom line being impacted today, which, again, will decrease the overhang of the pre-operating and start-up cost.
But the momentum and the pent-up earnings power of Nucor Corporation is just now coming online. And so over the next months and years, I love our strategy, our positioning, the customers and capabilities sets we're gonna be able to serve, and how that's gonna position Nucor Corporation to achieve. The highest highs we've ever achieved and the highest lows. So with that, Steve, maybe make a few comments on our pre-operating costs.
Stephen D. Laxton: Yeah. Hey. Hey, Lawson. How are you doing? The pre-op start-up cost came down quite a bit quarter over quarter. And the real driver on that is the Brandenburg team getting to breakeven more so than some of the bar mills although they're doing an excellent job as well. Just the sheer size of it, that's the one that's impacting the most. I think if you're thinking about what to model out for the second half of the year, you're probably going to be in that $140 to $150 million a quarter range for the back half of the year. And Leon highlighted where we are. We're marching through.
We're about three-fourths of the way through this major capital investment plan that we've had to reposition our company. So he alluded to it, but you'll see those figures start to come down a little bit later. It'll lag our capital spending.
Lawson Winder: Thanks for that. That's fantastic, guys. But if I could follow-up on Brandenburg, what utilization rate is the asset now currently operating? And then just how do you see that trending for Q3 and Q4?
Brad Ford: Yeah. Lawson, this is Brad Ford. I'm happy to take that one. First of all, I just congratulate that Brandenburg team and really the entire playgroup for the major step forward in Q2. Record production, record shipments, team achieved some pretty significant reductions in operating and efficiencies. Then we also have some key achievements in product development all contributing to that EBITDA positive Q2. Those are all records we expect to continue to break every quarter going forward. Right? So simply in Q3 and again in Q4. So we're very proud of that team. You know, one of the things we talk about at Brandenburg versus you talk about capacity utilization.
It's really the story is around the capabilities of that mill. And what that brings to the playgroup. And we saw that play out specifically in the bridge side. Some key end-use markets in Q2. You know, bridge demand has been very, very strong, and over 20% of our playgroup shipments in Q2 were only Brandenburg sizes. So prior to Brandenburg, tons that we couldn't participate in, customers we couldn't participate with. On the energy side, we saw onshore wind, power transmission, and line pipe all very robust. As we mentioned in the opening comments, Brandenburg was approved by some large line pipe manufacturers. We expect this to be a larger part of our order book in the quarters ahead.
So, really, it's a story of capability over capacity and the addition of Brandenburg's capabilities has us extremely well-positioned to really be the supplier of choice. We're pretty excited about the balance of this year. And we roll into 2026.
Lawson Winder: Thank you very much for that. Appreciate it. Best of luck to you all.
Leon Topalian: Thanks, Lawson.
Operator: Thank you very much. As a reminder, to raise a question, we'll star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from Katja Jancic from BMO Capital Markets. Katja, your line is now open.
Katja Jancic: Hi. Thank you for taking my questions. Maybe going back to the 3Q outlook, specifically to the mill segment. So you expect volumes and pricing to be relatively stable but also are calling for margin compression. Can you talk a bit more about what's driving that margin compression expectation?
Leon Topalian: Yeah. Katja, I'll touch on that. Look. It's a few things. One, if we step back and look at the entire tariff picture, you know, we've certainly looked at that and baked some of that into our forecast. So as we think about the impact to slabs, the impact to raw materials, if the impact of the tariffs to Brazil come into effect on Friday, that still remains to be seen. That could have some impact. However, I'll touch on that in a moment. But you know, that's a part of it. And the second part of that forecast is really around, again, the lag effect.
We touched on that a few minutes ago with the impact to our product segment where they're realizing, you know, that pricing delta that's now flowing through the system that is at lower pricing levels. But, again, the drivers and the demand drivers beyond that remain incredibly robust. So, as we move into Q3 and beyond, we're gonna start realizing those higher selling prices. And again, that will adjust. But those are the two drivers that are impacting why we potentially see nominal adjustment. But, again, there's some upside as well if certain things happen. But you know, I don't want to just leave that overhang there with a comment around the tariffs.
As we think about the raw material flexibility that we have, it's as broad and vast as any steel maker in North America. So I'll maybe just touch on a few of the things that we're doing. The flexibility of our raw materials opinion, and why if again, Katja, the tariffs go into effect on Friday, why we will not feel the full impact of those to our bottom line.
Albert: Sure, Leon. I'd be happy to. Katja, it's Albert. So to unpack a bit what Leon is mentioning there, I'd start with those comments about our raw materials team having the broadest capability of any steel producer in North America. In simple terms, we're built for this. This is why we stay in game day shape, and we're ready to play right now. And that team is getting it done. This is their time to shine, and they are really performing. When we think about Brazil, there's really two key inputs that we buy from Brazil. One is DRI pellets and the other is pig iron.
And so as we think about DRI pellets, we've already taken the steps needed to mitigate that 50% tariff from Brazil. And so we've done that through changes to our supply, our global sourcing for those pellets, and through the mix that we feed those DRI plants. So the DRI issue is largely taken care of. When we shift to pig iron, then I think it's helpful to first put our usage in perspective. So today, Katja, pig iron represents 7% to 8% of our melt across the enterprise. If you look back five years or so, that would be double that. And so one example of this flexibility was the invasion of Ukraine.
You know, at that time, Russia and Ukraine were 50% of our pig supply. And we pivoted very quickly in a very agile fashion. And never missed a quality spec. We never missed a customer commitment, and shifted our supply, pulling the levers we have to pull to react and respond. So, as we sit here today then with pig iron, we would expect to do largely the same thing. And pivot our supply and pull the levers that we have to pull. Some of those are shifting to alternate supply like DRI, like low copper shred. You think about our DRI supply, it's internal. It's stable. Both of our DRI plants are world-class among their peers, absolutely world-class.
And have become a top performer for the supply chain for our steel mills. The other is low copper shred. That's not directly an HQ high-quality metallic substitute, but it's part of that picture. And we've grown significantly in low copper shred production, and we expect to grow more into the future. So I just summarize our positioning in this way that this environment, it's very challenging, and it's very fluid, but it's exactly the type of environment that we've built this team to handle, and they're executing that strategy with skill and precision, and it just gives us options that other producers don't have.
Katja Jancic: That's super helpful. And just to confirm, basically, what I'm hearing is that you're preparing for the 50% tariffs from Brazil to go into effect on August 1. So if they don't if they actually do not go into effect, there's upside to your current expectations. Is that fair?
Leon Topalian: Yeah. Look. I think there's a lot of variables that could create some upside. But, again, what our jobs are to make sure we provide a realistic forecast for you to estimate what we think the earnings are gonna be. And so, again, we'll talk in a week, and we'll let you know whether or not those things come to pass. So until that time, yeah, I don't want to speculate on what could be. But we've built our models accordingly and, again, to put the risk mitigators there in place so that, again, we can pivot very quickly should they come to pass.
Katja Jancic: Perfect. Thank you. I'll hop back into the queue.
Operator: Thank you, Katja. Thank you so much. Our next question comes from Tristan Gresser from BNP Paribas. Tristan, your line is now open.
Tristan Gresser: Yes, hi. Thank you for taking my questions. Just a quick follow-up on the raw material cost. Have you seen any tariff-led cost already in Q2 on the BRI buying or, right, Trevor, anything? There in the average cost in Q2?
Leon Topalian: No. I no. Not we did not, Tristan.
Tristan Gresser: Alright. That's you. And then my second question, I think in your presentation, you talk about the beautiful bill potential impact. Could you maybe go a bit more in detail and if you've been able to quantify and time those impacts that would be appreciated. And maybe just a last question on the working capital outlook, you had a big build in H1. I'm not sure if that's also some raw material invent strategy ahead of the tariffs. If you can share any type of outlook into H2 for your working capital, that would be great as well. Thank you.
Leon Topalian: Okay. I certainly got the front end of the question. I'm not sure I got the back end, but I'll let Steve answer that if I begin from the macro, the one big beautiful bill, I think certainty certainly comes into play, certainly of what the corporate tax rate's gonna be and, again, now we can begin building, you know, certain things out. I think the other incentives for reshoring are certainly there. And, again, when you think about reshoring, Nucor Corporation sits at the tip of the spear of all of that. We're the best, most diverse, well-positioned steel company to provide everything that's going in the ground and above.
And so, again, our diverse range of capabilities offers incredible opportunities. You know, I don't know if Brad mentioned it a few minutes ago, but when you think about Brandenburg and its offering today, it is the widest, heaviest, broadest range of plate capable products in the United States. And so now as we think about long-term partnerships with defense, military applications, and beyond, it offers great exposure and, again, pull through for other products. So within that bill, you see $47 billion for funding for the border wall that we, again, sit at the ready poised, not only because we have it, but because we did it prior. In the first administration. We've got $29 billion slated for shipbuilding.
Again, back to Brandenburg and the capability set in our plate ranges, $150 billion in defense spending that we see sit in a very enviable position to be poised to supply all of that. And then, again, if I pull back one layer, you're one level higher from the bill itself, over the last six months, you've seen commitments from companies that are in the top Fortune 50 of this nation that amount announced $2 trillion of investment into the United States of America.
Again, Nucor Corporation sits in incredibly well-positioned to do everything from the data centers, the energy, the markets, the clean and clean manufacturing, the advanced manufacturing, all of those areas, again, from shipbuilding to bridges to defense and military, again, I think are wonderful pull-throughs. And, again, I think this bill is gonna be very advantageous for the steel industry, but quite frankly, manufacturing as a whole.
Stephen D. Laxton: Yeah. Hey. Hey, Tristan. This is Steve. And just to address the last part of your question about working capital changes, and it ties in with Leon's response about some positive demand trends, but it was a large factor. Working capital build is a large factor of why we had negative free cash flows for the first half of the year. We had roughly six a little north of $620 million of capital usage in our operating working capital build just in the second quarter alone. That's not abnormal given price trends and the volume trends we've seen, so that's not all that surprising.
But I think what that sets up really well is a very constructive pivot toward the second half of the year where we expect a dramatic change in free cash flow profile in the back half of the year compared with the first half of the year, and that's driven in part by the working capital usage in the first half, but also capital spending was very, very high in the first half of the year. So it really sets up a very nice market conditions along with our position in the market set up a very nice free cash flow outlook for the second half.
Tristan Gresser: Alright. That's clear. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you so much. As a reminder, to raise a question, we'll star followed by one on your telephone keypad now. And if you'd like to remove yourself online and questioning, we'll be. Our next question comes from Philip Ross Gibbs from KeyBanc. Phil, your line is now open.
Philip Ross Gibbs: Hey, good morning.
Leon Topalian: Good morning, Phil.
Philip Ross Gibbs: Sticking with the big beautiful bill question, Steve, are there any direct tax benefits to you all in the back half of the year? For 2026?
Stephen D. Laxton: Yeah. Hey, Phil. Actually, it's relatively limited. The construct of that bill is a little bit forward-facing, if you will. And that many of our projects are already underway. Some of the largest spend we've got. It does probably have the most pronounced effect for us in R&D spending. And the ability to accelerate that into, you know, expensing that right up front rather than amortizing it over seven years. So we'll have some very positive net present value benefits. With that regard, but maybe not as large as you might expect given the capital spending that we're undertaking.
Philip Ross Gibbs: Okay. And then I have one follow-up just on the cost side. So the slab piece, I think you buy foreign slab for CSI in that business on the West Coast. So my baseline assumption is that business starts to see some higher cost in the third quarter. I think that's what you may have been alluding to on the earlier comments. And then secondly, just maybe give us a view of what you're seeing on just your own energy and electricity cost side and how those things are trending overall? Thank you.
Leon Topalian: Yeah. Look, Phil, a few things. And, yes, is the short answer. The tariffs on slabs have already been taken. Already are in effect. And so that change is already upon us. But, again, Noah Hanners and the sheet group continue to do a great job. We have not unlike our raw materials in the incredible flexibility to pivot in against self-supply if we chose. But Noah, you want to touch base on a few of the things that you and your teams are doing there to again, mitigate some of this impact.
Noah Hanners: Yeah. Just a couple small things to add here. One, we have Leon mentioned and as you see in our raw material strategy, we have the ability to go source anywhere in the world and domestically in our team. Exercises that ability, and they're really adept at finding us the lowest cost solution. So while we do have some exposure to the Brazilian tariff, and you see a little bit of that compression in our outlook on the third quarter is due to that tariff impact to Brazil. We also have the ability to self-supply. We're shipping their internal finished hot rolled tons. That CSI is then able to transform at very competitive cost.
And then we are able to source from other international, you know, other sources internationally at very competitive cost. Our team's doing an awesome job managing the impact of the tariffs and we're able to continue to serve the West Coast market profitably.
Stephen D. Laxton: Yeah. Phil, just to round out your question on energy. Energy costs are up a little bit year over year. They're, you know, they're down quarter over quarter, but they're for us, they're a little over $40 a ton in our steelmaking, and in terms of outlook, we put that relatively, you know, relatively flat the next couple quarters going ahead.
Philip Ross Gibbs: Thanks very much.
Leon Topalian: Thanks, Phil.
Operator: Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Michael Dwayne Harris from Goldman Sachs. Mike, your line is now open.
Michael Dwayne Harris: As we look at the steel products, you know, segment, what would you guys call out as a potential gaps in that portfolio and maybe speak to, you know, some examples of what type verticals could bring material synergies to the table.
Leon Topalian: Yeah. Michael, again, as John had mentioned earlier, that group is comprised of about 12 different businesses from overhead doors or in insulated metal panels or joist and deck, our building systems. And I would tell you almost across the board, we're seeing either flat or improving conditions. So, again, I would tell you there's really not a lot or there's no low spots to call out. And there's some lag in terms of realized margins in net earnings that we're gonna see flow through into Q3 and beyond. But, again, if we go back six, seven, eight years, that group as a whole represented about 15% of Nucor Corporation's overall net earnings.
Today, that's pushing closer to 45, 46% of our overall net earnings. And again, as you think about the core build-out of our steelmaking capacity, those dollars are gonna continue to shift into our adjacencies, expand beyond and all those sit under this products bucket as well. So that growth for Nucor Corporation is gonna continue to grow in that area. So I would tell you we're excited about that. Our internal as well as the external forecast in almost every one of those segments are showing improving conditions.
Stephen D. Laxton: Yeah. Mike, maybe I'll add just a little bit to what Leon said there. If you go back to pre-COVID levels of EBITDA margins for the downstream segment, we're doing 9% or 10% EBITDA at that time and we're now we're doing, you know, 16%, 17% depending on whether you want to talk first half or fourth quarter. And I think that speaks to Leon's really hitting at with where we will allocate capital going forward, which is kind of the heart of your question about what gaps are in the product suite.
We continue to find ways to add to our portfolio that improve our margins, improve free cash flows, and offer a wider range of solutions in the marketplace and fit our business model. That's probably the most important aspect. We fundamentally create incremental value with these businesses when we add them and fold them into our portfolio. So we're not gonna ever tell you the specific targets, but we will keep marching in the same direction that we have, you've seen us do in the past.
Michael Dwayne Harris: No. That's very helpful. I guess in the spirit of full disclosure, I was looking at slide number six where you talked about the evolution of the business. And I was just trying to make sure I understood that future. Was that because, you know, you were just making the, you know, the best better, or did you not feel you had enough to fight with already in it? Sounds like it was the former. That's really all I had, guys. I mean, you've answered a lot of my questions already, so I'll get back in the queue.
Stephen D. Laxton: Right. Thank you, Mike.
Leon Topalian: Appreciate that. And, yes, your comment about the former is accurate. It is continuing to put more arrows in our quiver to deliver more capabilities for our customer sets.
Stephen D. Laxton: Thank you very much.
Operator: As a reminder to raise a question, we'll be start followed by one with your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from Carlos De Alba from Morgan Stanley. Carlos, your line is now open.
Carlos De Alba: Yes. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Just wanted to explore a little bit more the margin compression expected in the steel mills in the third quarter. Can you provide maybe some color by different product sheet, plate, bars, beams? Are there any of those products where you that you would highlight where you expect the biggest margin compression? Maybe you see some margin expansion in some of them, that'll be great.
Leon Topalian: Yeah. Carlos, look. We touched on that a little bit a few moments ago. I think the potential for some pressure in flat sheet in particular could impact those the earnings segment in Q3, and that's why again, we've highlighted that. We've touched on that. Part of that is what Noah just mentioned a few moments ago regarding the slabs coming in from Brazil. So again, we have some mitigation strategies already being worked and put in place which could mean we supply self-supply there through our own sheet mills. Again, we have very adaptive capability set. But, again, that's one area.
But as we talk about that, yeah, I think there's a ton of upside as we think about the potential continued growth and what Brandenburg's doing in the playgroup. What John and the team are doing in products, what Randy and his group are doing in our long products and rebar and MBQ. You know, we didn't talk about it on this call, but our beam mills in both Arkansas and Berkeley are performing at near historic highs. Their backlogs are at near historic highs. And all that backlog, like hundreds of thousands of tons is actual orders. They don't produce anything for stock. Every one of those are direct quotable and billable order.
And so that's gonna continue to fuel Nucor Corporation's earnings power. And, again, so there's a lot of segments that we're very excited about. Again, the megatrends across the US, the start-up next month of our towers and structures plant gives us incredible excitement again to be able to move into that market and then by early spring, the second plant in late next year, third. So, there's a number of different elements here that our investment strategy that we deliberately and focus on five years ago. We're beginning to pay those dividends today. And the investments that are just beginning to start up now are gonna continue to pay for the next twenty, thirty, forty years.
Carlos De Alba: Great. Thank you, Leonor. Maybe just to if we assuming on bars and maybe beams, but may bars, mentioned the price increases in BQ and rebar. Would you expect margin expansion in the bar business and maybe in the beams as well?
Leon Topalian: I'll touch on Beams and then let Randy touch Randy Spicer, our EVP over our products touch on. But look, as we think about the opportunity for longs, man, it's significant. Again, it's an area we've played in for a long time. We have a great customer base there. We have an incredible market share as well in beams. But that mill is run, you know, at 70 or percent of capacity for a long time, Carlos. So we have a lot of and upside there. At the same time, it is one of the strongest profit generators in the entire company and has been consistently for a long period of time.
And so we couldn't be more excited about the work that they're doing, how they look to continue to expand those margins. And, again, yes, I do think there's opportunity in the beam side. Randy, why don't you touch on the longs and bar and MBQ?
Randy J. Spicer: Yeah. Thank you, Leon. Carlos. Thank you for the question. Definitely the same. I would say, on the bar side. The momentum is very strong. We have continued to see robust order entry across all of our regions. As we start looking again to key end markets, as we've talked about several on the call, you know, the infrastructure work, again, continued big projects with the chip plant, warehouses, and data centers. The support that we get from our downstream businesses has been just tremendous. When you look at the macro signals, the, you know, dot momentum index is showing up 20%.
On a year, which, again, is letting us know there are even more projects that are coming into the planning phases. So when we look at our long products, our backlogs are at multiyear highs. And our lead times continue to extend. So we are very confident in a very strong second half.
Carlos De Alba: Great. Thank you very much. All the best.
Leon Topalian: Thanks, Carlos.
Operator: Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Alexander Nicholas Hacking from Citi. Alex, your line is now open.
Alexander Nicholas Hacking: Good morning, Leon and team. I apologize I missed the first couple of minutes of the call, but just wanted to check the CapEx guidance is unchanged at $3 billion, and therefore, we should expect a pretty significant decline in 2H. And then just as a follow-up, if I look at Slide five, all the projects nearing completion, beyond that, you've got the sheet mill, you've got the Utah Towers. The Pacific Northwest rebar mill, is there anything else that I'm missing that's kind of coming beyond what's on slide five? Thanks.
Leon Topalian: Yeah. Alex said, it was a riveting couple of minutes so we'll catch you up very quickly. But, yeah, you touched on most of them. A couple that I would add to that list are two galvanizing lines at Crawfordsville, Indiana as well as Nucor Berkeley that will come online next year. You know, the third tower plan in Utah as well next year. And so, again, we're starting to see the contributions from the investments that were made several years ago, like Brandenburg, Gallatin, and now came in and Lexington are in start-up mode now. Commissioning is done. And now their quest is to ramp those facilities up.
Serving our customer base to continue to generate stronger sustainable, less volatile earnings for our shareholders and, you know, for the future. So, yeah, as we see that pent-up earnings power is starting to flow through and will continue over the next couple years. But those are the couple I would add that you didn't call out.
David A. Sumoski: Hey, Alex. This is Dave Sumoski. I also had CSI Galpin. Drew? Late twenty-seven start-up.
Stephen D. Laxton: Yeah. And, Alex, your math exercise is correct. We do expect lower capital spending in the second half of the year. That and combined with a little bit less working capital use, we should see pronounced change in free cash flow. In the back half compared with the first half of the year.
Alexander Nicholas Hacking: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you very much. We currently have no further questions in the queue. So I'd like to hand back to Leon Topalian for any further remarks.
Leon Topalian: Thank you for joining us again today, and I'd like to thank our Nucor Corporation team for delivering an incredible first half of the year regarding safety as well as our solid financial performance. I'd like to thank our customers for the trust that you place in us with each and every order and finally, thank you to our investors for the trust that you place in us with your valuable shareholder capital. Thank you for your interest in Nucor Corporation, and have a great day.
Operator: As we conclude today's call, we'd like to thank everyone for joining. You may disconnect your lines.