Nucor DRI plant remains offline

The steel company Nucor, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced that its Nucor Steel Louisiana direct reduced iron (DRI) operations remain offline and are expected to be suspended until the end of the first quarter of 2015. The plant’s operations were suspended since an equipment failure related to the process gas heater occurred Nov. 2, 2014.

In its quarterly report, Nucor says it is making the necessary repairs to the equipment and the DRI plant. The company citeslong lead times for the specialty steel pipes that need to be replaced as the key reason that Nucor Steel Louisiana will not be operational until the end of the first quarter of 2015.

In a call regarding the company’s fourth quarter earnings report, Nucor said it expected to see earnings for the quarter decrease from the prior quarter.

In discussing its quarterly operations, Nucor noted that its overall operating performance at its steel mills segment and downstream products segment for the fourth quarter of 2014 is expected to decrease compared with the third quarter of 2014 due to end-of-the-year seasonality that is typical in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Nucor noted that imports remain at exceptionally high levels, which are contributing to the downward pressure on the performance of the steel mills segment. The steel mills segment has experienced some margin compression from the third quarter of 2014 as well as a decrease in volume.