Nucor to Expand its Towers & Structures Business

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Dec 15, 2022, 09:00 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) announced today that it will build two new state-of-the-art tower production plants as it expands its recently established Nucor Towers & Structures business unit. Nucor is evaluating locations in the Midwest and the Southeast.

"As our nation continues to replace its aging electric grid, extend transmission infrastructure to connect renewable generation locations and modernize its digital network, we see tremendous growth potential in the need to build this critical infrastructure using some of the cleanest, most sustainable steel in the world," said Leon Topalian, Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nucor Corporation. "The growth of Nucor Towers & Structures is further execution of our strategy."

Earlier this year, Nucor formed the Nucor Towers & Structures business unit when it acquired Summit Utility Structures LLC, a producer of metal poles and steel structures for utility infrastructure in eastern Pennsylvania. While that location primarily serves customers in the northeastern part of the country, Nucor will establish a nationwide footprint with these two new facilities. The growing demand for utility infrastructure is being driven by grid hardening and replacements, renewable energy projects, and population growth. Additional demand for utility infrastructure will result from the Inflation Reduction Act, recently passed by Congress, which provides more than $300 billion for clean energy and climate programs.

The two new greenfield transmission tower production plants will be extensively automated and will include advanced hot-dip galvanizing operations. Each facility will utilize highly efficient straight-line production and will increase Nucor Towers & Structures' capabilities to provide engineered solutions for utility infrastructure and construction projects. The locations for these two new facilities will be determined in the next few months.

"We look forward to adding these two new facilities and to continue to serve in the rapidly expanding utility, infrastructure and telecommunication markets," said Chad Utermark, Executive Vice President of New Markets and Innovation. "Towers and Structures adds a new dimension to our arsenal of value-added downstream products, and furthers our team's commitment to exceptional customer service, market-leading quality and reliability."

About Nucor

Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel and steel products, with operating facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel racking; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; insulated metal panels; overhead doors; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron / direct reduced iron; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties which we expect will or may occur in the future and may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. The words "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "intend," "project," "may," "will," "should," "could" and similar expressions are intended to identify those forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's best judgment based on current information, and, although we base these statements on circumstances that we believe to be reasonable when made, there can be no assurance that future events will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking information. As such, the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may vary materially from the projected results and expectations discussed in this news release. Factors that might cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (1) competitive pressure on sales and pricing, including pressure from imports and substitute materials; (2) U.S. and foreign trade policies affecting steel imports or exports; (3) the sensitivity of the results of our operations to prevailing market steel prices and changes in the supply and cost of raw materials, including pig iron, iron ore and scrap steel; (4) the availability and cost of electricity and natural gas, which could negatively affect our cost of steel production or result in a delay or cancellation of existing or future drilling within our natural gas drilling programs; (5) critical equipment failures and business interruptions; (6) market demand for steel products, which, in the case of many of our products, is driven by the level of nonresidential construction activity in the United States; (7) impairment in the recorded value of inventory, equity investments, fixed assets, goodwill or other long-lived assets; (8) uncertainties surrounding the global economy, including excess world capacity for steel production, inflation and interest rate changes; (9) fluctuations in currency conversion rates; (10) significant changes in laws or government regulations affecting environmental compliance, including legislation and regulations that result in greater regulation of greenhouse gas emissions that could increase our energy costs, capital expenditures and operating costs or cause one or more of our permits to be revoked or make it more difficult to obtain permit modifications; (11) the cyclical nature of the steel industry; (12) capital investments and their impact on our performance; (13) our safety performance; and (14) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and any variants of the virus. These and other factors are discussed in Nucor's regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of Nucor's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date, and Nucor does not assume any obligation to update them, except as may be required by applicable law.

SOURCE Nucor Corporation