Nucor

“These include major projects such as Nucor Steel Mill in West Virginia and Cheniere's LNG facilities in Texas.”

AEP cites a new Nucor steel mill in West Virginia as a major industrial load customer underpinning its load-growth forecast.

“now a Japanese company and U.S. Steel. It's not an American company today. It is a Japanese-owned company.”

Nucor's CEO notes rival U.S. Steel is now Japanese-owned (Nippon Steel), framing foreign investment into the U.S. steel market as a competitive-landscape shift.

“And so again, that peaked, I don't know, '21, '22, where we saw massive buildouts from Amazon, up others that were building as fast as they could come.”

Nucor notes warehouse steel demand, driven by Amazon's 2021-22 buildout, has since gone flat as spending shifted toward data centers.

“We also saw our long-term credit ratings upgraded to A3 by Moody's. Following the Moody's upgrade, we are now rated A- or A3 by all three ratings agencies, making us the only major North American steel producer to hold that distinction.”

Moody's upgraded Nucor to A3, making it the only major North American steel producer rated A-/A3 by all three agencies.

“Maybe two points and kind of goes back to Timna's comments as well about CSI and our joint venture with JFE, NJSM in Mexico.”

Nucor discussed its NJSM joint venture with Japanese steelmaker JFE in Mexico, noting the venture mainly supplies high-value automotive products and is well-positioned regardless of potential tariff impacts.

“Maybe just have one nuance on the sheet side of that, because we get a lot of questions about new capacities, especially around Hyundai. And I think one thing to be thoughtful of, is it really substantiates the shift we're seeing in automotive demand to EAF supply. And while the new capacity can be challenging in the near term, we expect in the longer term, we end with a healthier operating environment and we have more opportunities to participate in sheet demand with our mill and even the new mills that are mentioned.”

Nucor addressed reports of Hyundai Steel building new U.S. sheet capacity, framing it as near-term competitive pressure but a longer-term validation of the shift toward EAF-supplied automotive sheet.

“there's reports that Hyundai Steel is looking to build, and I think Nippon could do the same thing if their bid is indeed scrapped for U.S. steel.”

An analyst raised the possibility that Nippon Steel could build new U.S. capacity if its bid for U.S. Steel collapses, prompting Nucor to comment on foreign steelmakers building domestically.

“But the reality is it's got nothing to do with the workers at U.S. Steel. The men and women who are making their products every day are working hard and doing the right things. It's the leadership that didn't invest to stay competitive.”

Nucor's CEO attributed U.S. Steel's competitive decline to management underinvestment rather than its workforce, while noting Nucor could be interested in some of its assets if a rival acquisition bid falls through.