Sales of steel joists, joist girders and steel decking are dependent on the nonresidential building construction market. The majority of steel joists, joist girders and steel decking are used extensively as part of the roof and floor structural support systems in warehouses, data centers, manufacturing buildings, retail stores, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, and, to a lesser extent, in multi-story buildings and apartments. We make these products to theour customers’ specifications and do not sell these finished steel products out of inventory.typically deliver them directly to a construction site according to a prearranged schedule and sequence. The majority of these contracts are firm, fixed-price contracts that are, in most cases, competitively bid against other suppliers. Longer-term

Our Vulcraft/Verco group also manufactures and fabricates steel bar grating products at four of its facilities and serves the new construction and maintenance-related markets. The annual production capacity for our grating business is approximately 49,000 tons.

Reinforcing products are essential to concrete construction. They supply contracts may or may not permit ustensile strength, as well as additional compressive strength, and protect concrete from cracking. In many markets, Nucor Rebar Fabrication sells reinforcing products on an installed basis (i.e., Nucor Rebar Fabrication fabricates the reinforcing products for a specific application and performs the installation). Nucor Rebar Fabrication operates nearly 70 fabrication facilities across the United States and Canada, with each facility serving a local market. Total annual rebar fabrication capacity is approximately 1,736,000 tons.

Nucor’s cold finished facilities are among the most modern in the world, producingproduce cold finished bars for the most demanding applications. NCF obtains most of its steel from the Nucor bar mills, ensuring consistent quality and supply through all market conditions. These facilities produce cold-drawn, turned, ground and polished steel bars that are used extensively for shafting and other precision machined applications. NCF produces rounds, hexagons, flats and squares in carbon, alloy and leaded steels. These bars are purchased by the appliance, automotive, construction equipment, electric motor, farm machinery and fluid power industries, as well as by service centers. NCF bars are used in tens of thousands of products. A few examples include anchor bolts, hydraulic cylinders and shafting for air conditioner compressors, ceiling fan motors, garage door openers, electric motors and lawn mowers.

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Nucor owns a fully integrated precision castings company, Corporacion POK, S.A. de C.V. (“POK”), with a facility in Guadalajara, Mexico. POK produces complex castings and precision machined products used by the oil and gas, mining and sugar processing industries. POK produces a wide array of precision castings using steel, bronze, iron and specialty exotic alloys. POK complements NCF’s businesses and Nucor’s cold finish facility in Monterrey.Monterrey, Mexico.

The sizes of the buildings that can be produced range from less than 1,000 square feet to more than 1,000,000 square feet. Complete metal building packages can be customized and combined with other materials such as glass, wood and masonry to produce cost-effective, energy efficient, aesthetically pleasing buildings designed to the customers’ special requirements. The buildings are sold primarily through independent builder distribution networks in order to provide fast-track, customized solutions for building owners. The primary markets served are commercial, industrial and institutional buildings, including distribution centers, data centers, automobile dealerships, retail centers, schools and manufacturing facilities.

Nucor produces mesh at Nucor Steel Connecticut, Inc. and Nucor Wire Products Utah. Nucor also produces mesh in Canada at the Harris operations of Laurel Steel. The combined annual production capacity of the steel mesh facilities is approximately 128,000 tons.

Our grating business manufactures and fabricates steel and aluminum bar grating products at facilities located in North America and serves the new construction and maintenance-related markets. The annual production capacity for our grating business is approximately 80,000 tons.

Nucor Fastener’s bolt-making facility in Indiana produces carbon and alloy steel hex head cap screws, hex bolts, structural bolts, nuts and washers, finished hex nuts and custom-engineered fasteners. Nucor fasteners are used in a broad range of markets, including automotive, machine tool, farm implement, construction and military applications. The annual production capacity of this facility is approximately 75,000 tons.

Raw materials segment

In the raw materials segment, Nucor produces DRI;DRI and, through our DJJ subsidiary, brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, HBI and DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal. The raw materials segment also includes our natural gas drilling operations.production operations and our industrial gas business, Universal Industrial Gases. Nucor’s raw materials investments are focused on creating an advantage for its steelmaking operations, through a global information network and a multi-pronged and flexible approach to metallicsraw materials supply.

DJJ is the leading broker of ferrous scrap in North America and is a global trader of scrap metal, pig iron and other metallics. In addition to sourcing steel scrap for Nucor’s mills, DJJ is a global trader of ferro-alloys and nonferrous metals. DJJ’s logistics team owns and operates one of the largest independent fleets of railcars in the United States dedicated to the movement of scrap and steel and also offers railcar leasing and railcar fleet management services. These activities have strategic value to Nucor as the leading and most diversified North American steel producer.

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Our primary external customers for ferrous scrap are EAF steel mills and foundries that use ferrous scrap as a raw material in their manufacturing process. External customers purchasing nonferrous scrap metal include aluminum can producers, secondary aluminum smelters, steel mills, and other processors and consumers of various nonferrous metals. We market scrap metal products and related services to our external customers through in-house sales forces. In 2020,2023, approximately 9%8% of the ferrous and nonferrous metals and scrap substitute tons we brokered and processed were sold to external customers. We consumed the balance in our steel mills.

Nucor’s DRI production and brokering capabilities provide our steel mills flexibility to quickly adjust thetheir metallic input mix to changing market conditions, andenabling them to maintain competitiveness in the sometimes-volatileoften-volatile ferrous scrap market. With the potential for high-quality scrap becomingto become scarcer, coupled with the risk of third-party supplier disruptions, Nucor’s DRI facilities provide a greater degree of certainty over metallics supply to its metallics supply.steel mills.

Nucor’s access to a long-term, low-cost supply of natural gas is a component in the execution of Nucor’s raw material strategy. Natural gas produced by Nucor’s drillingproduction operations is being sold to third parties to partially offset our exposure to changes in the price of natural gas consumed by our DRI plant in Louisiana and our steel mills in the United States.

Customers

A significant portion of

Customers and Markets

We have a diverse customer base and are not dependent on any single customer. Our largest single customer in 20202023 represented less thanapproximately 5% of sales and consistently pays within terms. Our steel mills use a significant portion of the products of the raw materials segment.segment while our steel products segment uses approximately 20% of our steel mills' output.

We believe that nonresidential construction is the largest end-use market that we serve. Products from our steel mills and steel products segments are used in a variety of nonresidential construction applications (e.g., commercial, industrial and infrastructure).

In recent years, we have come to see our EAF-based steelmaking method, with its lower GHG intensity when compared with blast furnace technology that is reliant on mined or extracted virgin iron ore and coking coal, as a competitive advantage for reasons beyond its flexible, highly variable cost base. Customers are expressing greater concern for the GHG emissions in their supply chains and are prioritizing sourcing their steel requirements from EAF-based steelmakers for incorporation into their projects and products.

We have developed branded product lines to leverage this, and other advantages conferred by our specialized capabilities:

We have also invested in people and processes to organize more of our commercial activities around large customers and end-use markets (e.g., automotive, construction, wind energy and solar energy). We have developed dedicated teams tasked with developing relationships and educating decision makers in these sectors.

General Development of Our Business in Recent Years

Consistent with our strategy to Grow the Core, Expand Beyond and Live our Culture, Nucor has invested significant capital in recent years to expand our product portfolio to include more value-added

steel mill products and capabilities, improve our cost structure, enhance our operational flexibility and provide additional channelsincrease our exposure to market for our products.markets with attractive growth prospects, such as data centers and renewable energy. These investments totaled approximately $4.24$10.92 billion over the last three years, with approximately 95%54% going to capital expenditures and the remainder going to acquisitions. We believe that our focusthese investments will help us deliver higher returns on lowering costsinvested capital and diversifying our operations will enable us to deliver profitable long-term growth. Further, we believe shifting our product mix to a greater proportion of value-added products and increasing end-use market diversity will make usour overall business less susceptible to being negatively impacted by imports.volatile.

SeveralIn our steel mills segment, Nucor has initiated several new capital projects thatand an acquisition of a majority ownership position of a steel mill to support our expansion of value-added product offerings and cost-reduction strategies werestrategies.

Nucor Steel West Virginia (“NSWV”) is expected to have an annual production capacity of approximately 3,000,000 tons. The new mill will be equipped to produce 84-inch sheet products, and among other features, will include a 76-inch tandem cold mill and two galvanizing lines. Galvanizing capabilities will include an advanced high-end automotive line with full inspection capabilities as well as a construction-grade line. In addition to growing throughits advanced capabilities and strategic location, the new greenfield mill’s product mix is anticipated to have a significantly lower GHG intensity than blast furnace based competitors who have historically supplied the region.

Our acquisition of CSI expanded the reach of Nucor’s sheet mill group to the west coast of the United States and increased our exposure to more value-added sheet steel. CSI’s product capabilities include hot rolled, pickled and oiled, cold rolled and galvanized sheet steels, as well as electric resistance welded pipe. Its annual capacity is approximately 2,000,000 tons.

These mills are referred to as micro mills because they have a smaller operational footprint than our traditional rebar mills, as well as less productive capacity – typically about 400,000 tons per year. This makes them suitable for growth. Nucor-JFE, our joint ventureregional markets and enables us to serve these markets with JFE Steel Corporation of Japan,a logistics cost advantage relative to competitors operating from further away. Micro mills also have a lower environmental footprint due to their smaller size and the fact that their plant design does not typically include a natural gas fired reheat furnace that is common in which many steel mills.

Nucor has 50% ownership, resumed productionmade strategic acquisitions in late 2020 after lengthy government-mandated shutdowns relatedthe steel products segment over the last three years. These were largely to further the COVID-19 pandemic. Located in central Mexico, Nucor-JFE will supply galvanized sheet steel toExpand Beyond component of our strategy.

We believe this acquisition has broadened the value-added solutions that the Nucor Buildings group provides to targeted end markets such as warehousing, distribution and data centers. We expect these end-use markets to continue to grow in the coming years and that the use of IMP products within them will also increase. IMPs facilitate cost-effective climate control in the built environment and reduce energy usage and overall operations-related GHG emissions for owners and lessees.

In April 2022, Nucor expanded its steel racking capabilities by acquiring Elite Storage Solutions for $75 million. This acquisition combined with Nucor’s initial steel racking business, Hannibal, form the NWS group.

CHI has approximately 800 teammates across two manufacturing plants in Arthur, Illinois, and Terre Haute, Indiana, and regional warehouses located in California, Colorado, New Hampshire and New Jersey. With a highly diversified national customer network of professional garage door dealers, CHI is able to maintain minimal inventory levels and realize industry-leading fulfillment times, while providing direct delivery to customers.

Capital Allocation Strategy

The significant developments in Nucor’s business in recent years have been driven by our capital allocation strategy. Our highest capital allocation priority is to invest in our business for profitable long-term growth through our multi-pronged strategy of optimizing existing operations, greenfield expansions and acquisitions.

Our second priority is to return capital to our stockholders through cash dividends and share repurchases. Nucor has paid $1.47$1.53 billion in dividends to its stockholders during the past three years. That dividend payout represents 19%7% of cash flows from operations during that three-year period. The Company repurchased $39.5 million$1.55 billion of its common stock in 20202023 ($298.5 million2.76 billion in 20192022 and $854.0 million$3.28 billion in 2018)2021).

We intend to return at least 40% of our net income to stockholders over time via a combination of both cash dividends and share repurchases. Over the past three years, we have returned approximately 61%48% of our net income in this manner. At December 31, 2020,2023, the Company had approximately $1.16$3.32 billion available for share repurchases under the currentcurrently authorized share repurchase program.

We intend to execute on thisour capital allocation strategy while maintaining a strong balance sheet, with relatively low financial leverage, as measured in terms of net debt to total capital, as well as ample liquidity. At year-end 2020,2023, our net debt to total capital was approximately 13%24% and we had cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and restricted cash and cash equivalents on hand of $3.16$7.13 billion. At the end of 2020,2023, Nucor had the strongest credit ratings in the North American steel sector (Baa1/(A-/A-)/Baa1) with stable outlooks at both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.

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Competition

We compete in a variety of steel and metal markets, including markets for finished steel products, unfinished steel products and raw materials. These markets are highly competitive with many domestic and foreign firms participating, and, as a result of this highly competitive environment, we find that we primarily compete on price and service.

In our steel mills segment, our EAF steel mills face many different forms of competition, including domestic integrated steel producers (who use iron ore converted into liquid form in a blast furnace as their basic raw material instead of scrap steel), other domestic EAF steel mills, steel imports and alternative materials. Large domestic integrated steel producers have the ability to manufacture a variety of products but face significantly higher energy costs and are often burdened with higher capital and fixed operating costs. EAF-based steel producers, such as Nucor, are sensitive to increases in scrap prices but tend to have lower capital and fixed operating costs compared with large integrated steel producers. EAF-based steel producers also typically emit less carbon dioxidefewer GHGs per ton of steel produced than integrated steel producers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the

Global steel production overcapacity continues to be an ongoing risksrisk to Nucor and the entire steel industry face from excess global steelmaking capacity, particularly in non-market economies. China set a record for steel production in 2020, despite the pandemic. Steel production in China rose from approximately 1.10 billion tons in 2019 to approximately 1.16 billion tons in 2020. As a result, China’s share of global crude steel production rose from 53.3% in 2019 to 56.6% in 2020.industry. The Organisation for Economic Co-operationCooperation and Development (the( the “OECD”) estimatesestimated that excess global steel production capacity will beovercapacity would grow from approximately 776556.1 million metric tons in 2022 to approximately 610.8 million tons in 2020, up from 624 million tons2023, with additional global capacity coming online and economic uncertainty in 2019, which was itself up significantly fromsome parts of the prior year. China’sworld, particularly China, impacting steel demand. An OECD report states that in Asia, 75 percent of the new capacity coming online between 2024 and 2026 will utilize blast furnace technology. Other regions of the world are not expected to see new blast furnace projects in those years. Adding additional blast furnace capacity will increase carbon emissions. See 'Item 1A. Risk Factors- Industry Specific Risk Factors" for further discussion of overcapacity risks.

China continues to be the largest steel producing country. In 2023, despite much slower economic growth and a continuing downturn in its property market, China still produced more than one billion tons of steel, near its all-time record, accounting for approximately 54% of all steel produced globally.

Circumvention of trade duties also continues to pose a risk. Besides producing over a billion tons of steel in its own country, China is investing heavily in steel production in other countries which is one way it tries to avoid being subject to trade duties on exports to the U.S. market. According to the OECD, Chinese steel companies are state-ownedwill account for 65% of cross-border investments or joint venture investments in 2023 or later and receive significant financial support fromwill account for more than 80% of the Chinese government.investment in new steelmaking capacity in southeast Asian countries.

The Section 232 steel tariffs implementedenacted in 2018 continue to beand successful trade cases have been effective in preventing the dumpingkeeping unfairly traded imports out of steel products in the U.S. market. SuccessfulThe U.S. government has reached agreements with several allied countries to replace applicable Section 232 tariffs on steel with quota systems or other trade agreements.

The U.S. and European Union are also negotiating the world’s first carbon-based sectoral arrangement, the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum, that will restrict access to their markets for higher-emitting steel imports and countries that dump cheap imports. Other countries will be able to join if they meet criteria for restoring market orientation and reducing trade in high-carbon steel and aluminum products. At the end of 2023, the U.S. and EU agreed to extend both the negotiations and existing tariff rate quotas into 2025.

During 2023, sunset review hearings by the U.S. International Trade Commission kept in place antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) orders on cut-to-length steel plate from several countries. Trade remedy orders such as these play a key role in allowing the American steel industry trade cases overto compete on a level playing field against unfairly traded imports, and recent sunset reviews have left the past several years have had an impact on import levels as well. Fororders almost entirely in place. Sunset reviews are typically held with respect to specific exporters and products every five years.

In December of 2022, the full year 2020, importsWorld Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the Section 232 tariffs violated U.S. WTO commitments. The U.S. government has appealed the ruling. Imports of finished steel in 2023 were down approximately 23%14% from the previous year2022 levels and finished steel imports accounted for approximately 18%21% of U.S. market share. In 2020, finished steel import market share was at its lowest level since 2003.  

The new United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement went into effect in July 2020. The agreement has several provisions that we believe will benefit the steel industry, including requiring that higher levels of a vehicle’s content, including steel, be produced in North America for a vehicle to qualify for zero tariffs, and that 70% of the steel used in vehicles be melted and poured in North America. There are also provisions addressing currency manipulation and state-owned enterprises.

We also experience competition from other materials. Depending on our customers’ end use of our products, there are often other materials, such as concrete, aluminum, plastics, composites and wood that compete with our steel products. When the price of steel relative to other raw materials rises, these alternatives can become more attractive to our customers.

In our steel products segment we manufacture a wide range of products that primarily have construction applications. In each of our product lines, we face competition from well capitalized domestic and international providers offering similar products and services. We compete on price, service (e.g., consulting on engineering requirements, facilitating logistics, and timeliness of order fulfillment) and quality (e.g., reliably producing to exacting custom specifications). We believe we have established a reputation as a market leader who can consistently meet customer needs for these products in a timely manner due to our nationwide footprint of modern production facilities and entrepreneurial, performance driven culture.

Competition in our scrap and raw materials business is also vigorous. The scrap metals market consists of many firms and is highly fragmented. Firms typically compete on price and geographic proximity to the sources of scrap metal.

Backlog

In the steel mills segment, Nucor’s backlog of orders was approximately $2.58$3.27 billion and $1.68$2.33 billion at December 31, 20202023 and 2019,2022, respectively. Order backlog for the steel mills segment includes only orders from external customers and excludes orders from other Nucor businesses. Nucor’s backlog of orders in the steel products segment was approximately $2.66$4.97 billion and $2.24$6.65 billion at December 31, 2020

2023 and 2019,2022, respectively. The majority of these orders are expected to be filled within one year. Order backlog within our raw materials segment is not meaningful because the vast majority of the raw materials that segment produces are used internally.

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Sources and Availability of Raw Materials

An ample supply of high-quality scrap and scrap substitutes is critical to support Nucor’s ability to produce high-quality steel. The goal of Nucor’s raw materials segment is to safely produces, sources, tradesproduce, source, trade and transportstransport steelmaking raw materials. Nucor’s raw materials investments are focused on creating an advantage for itsour steelmaking operations, through a global information network and a multi-pronged and flexible approach to metallics supply.

Scrap and scrap substitutes are the most significant element in the total cost of steel production. The average cost of scrap and scrap substitutes used in our steel mills segment decreased 8%approximately 14% from $314$492 per gross ton used in 20192022 to $290$421 per gross ton used in 2020.2023. On average, it takes approximately 1.1 tons of scrap and scrap substitutes to produce one ton of steel. Depending on the market conditions at the time, a raw material surcharge orWe employ variable steel pricing mechanism may be implementedmechanisms so that we are better able to assist Nucor in maintainingmaintain operating margins and in meetingmeet our customer commitments during periods of rapidly changingas scrap and scrap substitute costs.costs fluctuate.

For the past decade, Nucor hasremains focused on securing reliable access to low-cost raw material inputs as they are the Company’s largest expense. We believe Nucor’s broad, balanced supply chain is an important strength which allows us to reduce the cost of our steelmaking operations, create a shorter supply chain and have greater optionalitycontrol over our metallic inputs. Our investment in DRI production facilities and scrap yards, as well as our access to international raw materials markets, provides Nucor with significant flexibility in optimizing our raw material costs.mix. Additionally, having a significant portion of our raw materials supply under our control minimizes risk associated with the global sourcing of raw materials, particularly since a good deal of scrap substitutes comes from regions of the world that have historically experienced greater political turmoil.turmoil, such as Ukraine, Russia and Brazil. We believe the continued successful implementation of our raw material strategy, including key investments in DRI production, as well as in the scrap brokerage and processing services performed by our team at DJJ, gives us greater control over our metallic inputs and thus helps us mitigate the risk ofnavigate significant fluctuations in the availability and costs of critical inputs.

DJJ acquires ferrous scrap from numerous sources, including manufacturers of products made from steel, industrial plants, scrap dealers, peddlers, auto wreckers and demolition firms. In recent years, we have developed closed loop recycling programs with some of our larger customers, through which we are able to reliably source more high purity prime scrap while reducing the waste inherent in our customers’ operations.

We purchase pig iron as needed primarily from a varietyoverseas sources. We received over 1,600,000 gross tons of sources and operatepig iron in 2023. Our DRI plants in Trinidad and Louisiana with respective annual production capacitiessupplied approximately 3,350,000 metric tons of approximately 2,000,000 and 2,500,000 metric tons.DRI to our steel mills in 2023. The primary raw material for our DRI facilities is pelletized iron ore, which we purchase from various international suppliers. Another major source of raw materials used in the production of steel is pig iron. We received over 2.6 million gross tons of pig iron in 2020. As with scrap and iron ore, we source pig iron from a number of international suppliers.

The primary raw material for our steel products segment is steel produced by Nucor’s steel mills.

Energy Consumption and Costs

Most of our operations are energy intensive.Steel manufacturing is considered an energy-intensive, trade exposed industry. As a result, we continuously strive to make our operations in all three of our business segments more energy efficient. In addition, we proactively engage with suppliers, regulators and other energy industry participants to ensure the continued domestic availability of reliable, low costlow-cost sources of energy in various forms.

Our steel millssteelmaking operations utilize EAFs for 100% of their steel production, with approximately 50% of their total energy consumed as electricity.production. The total energy consumed by Nucor also includes electricity, natural gas, oxygen and carbon raw material inputs. For the scrap melting

process, electricity is the primary energy source, with natural gas combustion serving as the fuel for reheat furnaces and other pre-heating operations. Our DRI facilities in Trinidad and Louisiana are also large consumers of natural gas.

The availability and prices of electricity and natural gas are influenced today by many factors, including changes in supply and demand, the regulatory environment and pipeline/transmission infrastructure.

We closely monitor developments in public policy relating to energy production and consumption. We work with policymakers to provide technical information that can inform policy making and avoid

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unintended adverse consequences of legislative and regulatory actions. We believe that a thoughtful approach to domestic energy policy can help ensure that steel and steel products manufactured in the United States remain competitive in an increasingly global marketplace.

Greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions by the energy sector have received an increasing amount of attention in recent years, as more people become concerned that these emissions are a significant contributor to climate change. This has led to increasing support for, and investment in, low or zero carbon energy generation technologies such as solar, wind and nuclear. As a result, the development of these technologies has accelerated, and in many cases they are now more cost competitive with traditional, fossil fuel-based power generation. We believe that this ongoing diversification of power generation technologies is fundamentally positive, but without careful planning and investment there is some risk to the reliability of the domestic power grid as this transition continues. In particular, legacy fossil fuel-based assets will remain essential for some time to come and the U.S. transmission grid is broadly in need of substantial upgrades to take full advantage of these newer, more intermittent power sources. We are also optimistic about the related demand for our products as transmission grid upgrades are executed and newer power generation assets are developed using steel.

In November of 2020, we executed a 15-year, 250-megawatt Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (“VPPA”) with a major North American renewable energy company. Under the VPPA, we have agreed to purchase for a fixed price a portion of the output of a solar array being developed in northwestern Texas. The VPPA will be settled financially on a monthly basis. We have undertaken this initiative to support the ongoing transition of the U.S. power grid to a greater reliance on renewable power. As part of this arrangement we will also receive Renewable Energy Credits (“RECs”) commensurate with the power we purchase. These RECs can be applied against a portion of our GHG emissions, enabling us to receive credit for reducing them. The pay fixed, received floating nature of this arrangement also offsets a portion of our exposure to higher prices for electricity over the life of the contract. We are evaluating and considering more transactions like this one.

We use a variety of strategies to manage our exposure to price risk of natural gas, including cash flowfinancial hedges as well asand physical hedges resulting from our owned natural gas drilling operations. In addition to the currently producing wells in the Piceance Basin, Nucor owns leasehold interests in natural gas properties in the South Piceance Basin, in the Western Slope of Colorado. To support Nucor’s operating wells and potential future well developments on these properties, Nucor has entered into long-term agreements directly with third-party gathering and processing service providers. Natural gas produced by Nucor’s drilling operations is being sold to partially offset our exposure to changes in the price of natural gas consumed by our DRI plant in Louisiana, and by our steel mills in the United States. Nucor has full discretion on its participation in all future drilling capital investments.investments, however, in the fourth quarter of 2022 we decided that it is unlikely that we will develop the remaining portions of our unproved oil and natural gas properties.

We closely monitor developments in public policy relating to energy production and consumption. We engage with policymakers to provide technical information that can inform policy decisions and avoid unintended adverse consequences of legislative and regulatory actions. We believe that a thoughtful approach to domestic energy policy can help ensure that steel and steel products manufactured in the United States remain competitive in the global marketplace.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

While steel is widely understood to be essential in any modern economy, and is increasingly seen as a critical material for addressing challenges associated with climate change, the sector also has received increased attention for its GHG emissions and their potential contribution to climate change.

As the leading U.S. supplier of numerous essential steel products using primarily recycled ferrous scrap metal, we believe we are in a competitively advantageous position. Our circular production process has one third the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of the average traditional extractive steelmaking process using a blast furnace.

We are committed to further reducing our GHG footprint over time. In November 2023, we announced net-zero, science-based greenhouse gas (GHG) targets for 2050 and established a new interim emissions reduction target for 2030. These new GHG intensity targets are defined by the Global Steel Climate Council’s (GSCC) “Steel Climate Standard”, an ambitious standard that is aligned with both the Paris Climate Agreement’s emission reduction goals for the steel sector by 2050, and the International Energy Agency’s “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy System” glidepath.

Nucor’s net-zero 2050 and interim 2030 targets include scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions from the production of hot rolled steel as defined by the GSCC, making Nucor the first diversified steelmaker in the U.S. to set GHG reduction targets encompassing all three scopes.

We plan to achieve our goals by increasing the use of clean electricity, deploying carbon capture and sequestration where practical and developing near zero GHG ironmaking technologies, as well as through the development and deployment of technologies enabling us to reduce our consumption of injection and charge carbon and natural gas.

Clean Electricity Initiatives

GHG emissions associated with our consumption of electrical power constitute approximately 21% of our current footprint.

We have invested in two companies developing next generation nuclear power technology, and we are exploring ways in which we can work with these companies and with our electric utility partners to accelerate deployment of these technologies on the regional power grids serving our operations, as they mature and become scalable.

Currently, we are a party to two Power Purchase Agreements (“PPAs”). Under these PPAs, we have agreed to purchase for a fixed price output from one solar and one wind project in the United States. The PPAs are structured for monthly financial settlement. We have undertaken these initiatives to support the ongoing transition of the U.S. power grid to a greater reliance on renewable power. As part of these arrangements, we will also receive Renewable Energy Credits (“RECs”) commensurate with the renewable power we purchase. These RECs can be applied against a portion of our GHG emissions, enabling us to receive credit for reducing them. The pay-fixed, receive-floating nature of this arrangement also offsets a portion of our exposure to higher prices for electricity over the life of the contract. We continue to evaluate and consider similar additional transactions, as well as opportunities to deploy renewable power generation and storage assets on site at our facilities.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Activity

In 2023, we signed an agreement with Exxon Mobil to capture, transport, and store carbon from our DRI plant in Convent, Louisiana. ExxonMobil will capture between 600,000 and 800,000 metric tons per year of CO2 from our DRI plant and store the CO2 at an ExxonMobil-owned facility in Louisiana. We expect start-up in 2026. ExxonMobil will receive the related tax credits and pay us a fee for each ton of CO2 we supply.

Near Zero Ironmaking

We have invested in Electra, a company that is working to develop and scale a process to produce carbon-free iron that can be used to make steel. Electra’s technology relies on intermittent, clean energy to refine low-grade iron ores through electrochemical and hydrometallurgical processes. Electra’s process operates at 60°C and removes critical impurities from low-grade ores to produce high purity iron that can be charged directly into EAF steelmaking. Electra’s technology is unproven at scale at this stage.

We have entered into a partnership with Tata Steel to explore the possibility of scaling and commercializing HIsarna, a technology that enables the production of iron from low grade iron ore fines without using coke ovens. Coke ovens consume bituminous coal at high temperature to make coke, an essential ingredient for producing iron in a blast furnace. Both coke ovens and blast furnaces are GHG emissions intensive. While the HIsarna process produces GHG emissions, its CO2 rich waste gas stream can be more readily captured and sequestered. HISarna also produces a slag co-product that has high value for use in the cement industry.

Government and Environmental Regulations

Our business operations are subject to numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations, the most significant of which are intended to protect our teammates and the environment. Due to the nature of the steel industry, we are subject to substantial regulations related to safety in the workplace. In addition to the requirements of the state and local governments of the communities in which we operate, we must comply with federal health and safety regulations and environmental regulations, the most significant of which are enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"). Because safetySafety and safety compliance is one of our primaryenvironmental stewardship are important values its effect on ourto Nucor. We expect that capital expenditures earnings and competitive position is not estimable.we will direct toward our efforts in these areas will total approximately $280 million in 2024.

Nucor operates a robust and sustainable environmental program that incorporates the concept of each individual teammate, as well as management, being responsible for environmental performance. All of Nucor’s steelmaking operationssteel mills that have been owned and operated by Nucor for over five years are ISO 14001 certified. Achieving ISO 14001 certification requires Nucor’s steel mills to implement an environmental management system with measurable targets and objectives, such as reducing the use of oil and grease and minimizing electricity use.

The principal federal environmental laws that regulate our business include the Clean Air Act (the “CAA”) that, which regulates air emissions; the Clean Water Act (the “CWA”) that, which regulates water withdrawals and discharges; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (the “RCRA”) that, which addresses solid and hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response,

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Compensation and Liability Act (the “CERCLA”) that, which governs releases of hazardous substances, and remediation of contaminated sites. Our operations are also subject to state and local environmental laws and regulations.

As it relates to air emission rates, EAFs are the most efficient and cleanest steel making process commercially available today. In comparison to blast furnaces, EAF emissions of sulfur oxides, from EAFs are approximately 14% of the amount emitted from blast furnaces. EAFs emit less than 1% of the particulate emissions compared to blast furnace operations. Importantly, EAF emissions of greenhouse gasesmatter and GHGs per ton of steel averageare significantly less than half of the rates typically generated byintegrated steelmaking operations utilizing blast furnaces. Operating EAFs instead of blast furnaces is a proven air quality improvement strategy. In addition, each of our steel mills operateoperates air pollution control devices (baghouses) to collect and capture particulate emissions (“EAF dust”) from the steel makingsteelmaking process.  We strive to maintain compliance with all applicable CAA requirements.

The primary raw material of Nucor’s steelmaking operations is scrap metal. As mentioned previously, theThe process of recycling scrap metal generates particulate matter emissions that includes contaminants such as paint, zinc, lead, chrome and other metals. Initially, the particulate matter captured and collected is classified as a listed hazardous waste under the RCRA. BecauseHowever, because these contaminants contain valuable metals, the EAF dust is recycled to recover these metals. Nucor sends all but a small fraction of the EAF dust it collects to recycling facilities that recover the zinc, lead, chrome and other valuable metals from this dust. By recycling this material, Nucor believes it is not only acting in a sustainable, responsible manner but it is also substantially limiting its potential for future liability under both the CERCLA and the RCRA.

In addition to recycling EAF dust, Nucor mills beneficially reuse steel slag in road materials as a granular base, embankments, engineered fill, highway shoulders, and hot mix asphalt pavement. The physical, chemical, mechanical and thermal properties of steel slag provide a vital resource for construction companies and activities. We take considerable pride in our recycling efforts.

Notably in both 2019 and 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) identified Nucor as a Top 10 Parent Company in terms of pollution source reduction activities in its assessment publication, National Analysis of Toxics Release Inventory. To illustrate potential reduction strategies, the EPA used a Nucor facility as an example of pollution prevention. Nucor focuses on pollution prevention at all of our facilities.

Not only does the RCRA establish standards for the management of solid and hazardous wastes, the RCRA also addresses the environmental impact of contamination from waste disposal activities and from recycling and storage of most wastes. Periodically, past waste disposal activities that were legal when conducted butthat may now may pose a contamination threat are discovered. When the EPAU.S. Environmental Protection Agency determines these off-site properties are contaminated, Nucor quickly evaluates such claims and, if Nucor is determined to be responsible, we do our part to remediate our share of such issues. Nucor believes all identified liabilities under the RCRA are either currently being resolved or have been fully resolved.

Because Nucor has historically implemented environmental practices that have resulted in the responsible disposal of waste materials,

Nucor is also not presently considered a major contributor to any major cleanups under the CERCLA for which Nucor has been named a potentially responsible party. Nucor regularly evaluates these types of potential liabilities and, if appropriate, maintains reserves sufficientappropriate to remediate the identified liabilities. Under the RCRA, private citizens may also bring an action against the operator of a regulated facility for potential damages and payment of cleanup costs. Nucor believes that its system of internal evaluation and due diligence has sufficiently identifiedprovides reasonable assurance as to these types of potential liabilities so that compliance with these regulations will not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition beyond that already reflected in the reserves established for them.

To protect water resources, the CWA regulates water dischargeswithdrawals and withdrawals.discharges. When applicable, Nucor maintains dischargewater withdrawal and water withdrawaldischarge permits at its facilities under the national pollutant discharge elimination system program of the CWA and conducts its operations in compliance with those

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permits. Nucor also maintains permits from local governments if the facility discharges into publicly owned treatment works.

Capital expenditures at our existing facilities that are associated with environmental regulation compliance for 20212023 and 20222024 are estimated to be less than $100 million per year.

Human Capital Resources

Culture, Organization and Compensation

We consider our teammates the most important part of Nucor and believe that our culture – culture—and the encouragement that we provide to our teammates to “grow the core; expand beyond; and live our culture” – provides—provides us with a competitive advantage. Our culture’s

While our business strategy shapes "what we do", our culture shapes "how" we go about doing it. We believe adherence to the key principles are: Safety First, Trust, Open Communications, Teamwork, Community Stewardshiptenets of our culture — safety, integrity, trust, innovation, open communication, teamwork, inclusion, courage, can-do attitude and Results.  ownership — is a powerful differentiator for Nucor and positions the Company favorably to deliver ongoing stockholder value to our investors.

Nucor has a simple, streamlined organizational structure that allows our teammates to make quick decisions and innovate. Our organization is also highly decentralized, with most day-to-day operating decisions made by our division general managers and their teams. With moreapproximately 32,000 teammates, fewer than 26,000 teammates, only 150200 work in our principal executive offices in Charlotte, North Carolina. By empowering our teammates, our goal is to foster an entrepreneurial mindset, along with a strong sense of personal responsibility and a culture of accountability.accountability and belonging. This empowerment is reinforced by our compensation policies so as(see discussion on “Pay for Performance” in Our Teammates - Compensation, Training & Development section below) to drive results and contribute to our success.

Teammate input is essential for us to maintain our culture of empoweringempowered teammates to makeenabling efficient operational decisions. Aside from our practice of everyday open communication, we periodically ask our teammates to formally provide feedback. Beginning inSince 1986, we have asked our teammates to complete a comprehensive survey in order to gather feedback on a range of topics, including matters relating to the effectiveness of our culture. We view the survey as an important tool we use toin continually improveimproving our company and ensureensuring our teammates remain engaged and satisfied. This survey is conducted every three years, the last of which was conducted in 2019.2022. In the most recent survey, 90%89% of the responses were favorable in the category of “Satisfaction & Commitment.” The overall percentage of negative responses in the most recent survey has dropped by 25 percentage points since the survey began in 1986. The next survey will be conducted in the summer of 2025. Teammates of certain previously acquired businesses – most notably DJJ and Harris, which together accounted for approximately 27%15% of our workforce as of December 31, 20202023 – complete a comparable surveyssurvey that havehas also shown an improving trend over time.

Safety, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Safety

One of Nucor’s core values is our teammates’ well-being and safety, and it is our goal to become the safest steel company in the world. Our foremost responsibility is to work safely, which requires our teammates to identify unsafe conditions and activities and mitigate these hazards. We will continue working to eliminate exposures that can lead to injury and encourage our teammates to share their ideas for safety improvement. Two key metrics Nucor uses to measure safety are: the Injury/Illness Rate and Days Away, Restricted and Transfer (“DART”) Case Rate.

Nucor calculates the annual Injury/Illness Rate by dividing the number of work-related injuries and illnesses by the total number of hours worked by all Nucor teammates in a given year, and then multiplying the resulting percentage by 200,000, the equivalent of 100 full-time employees working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year. In 2020,2023, we achieved an annual Injury/Illness Rate of 1.10.0.79, which marks the fifth consecutive year of a reduced rate. This marks an improvement over our annual Injury/Illness Rate of 0.95 in 2022.

Nucor uses the DART Case Rate to assess and manage the risk of serious injury in the workplace. Nucor calculates the annual DART Case Rate by dividing the number of cases resulting in days away from work, restricted work activity and/or job transfers by the total number of hours worked by all Nucor teammates in a given year, and then multiplying the resulting percentage by 200,000, the equivalent of

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100 full-time employees working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year. In 2020,2023, we achieved an annual DART Case Rate of 0.59.0.36 (0.43 in 2022).

Beginning inSince 1998, Nucor has used the President’s Safety Award to recognize divisions that achieve strong records of safety performance based on objective metrics. Since 2004, theThe President’s Safety Award has gonethe following three levels: Platinum, which is awarded to divisions with zero recordable illnesses or injuries; Gold, which is awarded to divisions that have an Illness/Injury Rate below 0.6 and mills wherea DART Case Rate below one-third of the Injury/Illnessnational average for their NAICS code; and Silver, which is awarded to divisions that achieve one-third the national average on Illness/Injury Rate and DART Case Rate are less than one-third the national average for comparable facilities.Rate. In 2020, 40 of Nucor’s mills and2023, 31 divisions achieved the President’s Safety Award.Platinum level award, 17 divisions achieved the Gold level award and 24 divisions achieved the Silver level award. Nucor also has 2524 OSHA Voluntary Protection Program Sites, OSHA’s highest level of recognition.

In 2020, the Company introduced the Nucor President’s Safety Cup as a way to foster more safety benchmarking throughout the Company. The President’s Safety Cup is an additional annual award that is presented to the region that has the best safety record across all of Nucor. Not only does this reward a facility for exceeding their individual safety goals, but it encourages our teams to innovate and to share ideas and improve safety as a group. The President’s Safety Cup trophy travels among the mills and divisions that make up the winning region.

We believe, however, that safety is about more than just avoiding injuries. At Nucor, safety means making sure our teammates feel safe, welcome and valued when they come to work each day. We are accelerating our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts with the objective of ensuring that each teammate feels a sense of belonging at Nucor. By creating an inclusive workplace, we believe we will attract top talent, foster innovation, increase a sense of empowerment and make Nucor a stronger company. Over the past two years, approximately 31% of Nucor teammates hired or promoted to the Manager or General Manager level were diverse.

Some of the initiatives focused on inclusion, equity and diversity we have launched include:

Our Teammates - Compensation, Training & Development

Nucor had approximately 26,40032,000 teammates as of December 31, 2020.2023. The vast majority of our teammates are located in the United States, with only a small number of teammates located outside of North America. Our operations are highly automated, allowing us to improve safety outcomes and take advantage of lower employment costs while still providing our teammates with compensation that we believe is highly competitive as compared to comparable businesses in our industry. At Nucor, we believe in “Pay-for-Performance.” Nucor teammates typically earn a significant part of their compensation based on their productivity. Production teammates work under group incentives that provide increased earnings for increased production. This additional incentive compensation is paid weekly in most cases. Nucor has also historically contributed 10% of earnings before federal taxes to a profit sharing plan for the majority of teammates below the officer level. We believe such compensation practices incentivize our workforce and reinforce our culture.

While Nucor seeks to hire qualified and talented individuals as new teammates, we also believe in developing the skills of our workforceexisting team by providing educational and on-the-job training, in addition to safety training. Further, Nucor believes it is important for senior management to also be familiar with, and have had direct experience running, Nucor’s mills and other operational divisions. The vast majority of our teammates are not represented by labor unions and we believe our teammate turnover is low.

At Nucor, we believe that a diversity of perspectives and background helps to facilitate the “Nucor Way” as we work to “grow the core; expand beyond; and live our culture.” We also believe that recruiting and hiring the best talent available will continue to provide us with a more diverse and capable workforce.    In addition, the best opportunity for continued future success.

Policies

Nucor has a long history of conducting our businesses in a manner consistent with high standards of social responsibility. We have adopted a comprehensive Human Rights Policy, which operates in conjunction with many other Nucor policies related to ethical conduct and human rights, including our Standards of Business Conduct and Ethics, Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Professionals, Supplier Code of Conduct and Policy on Eliminating Forced Labor from our Supply Chain.  We will continue to evaluate

More information about our approach and look for opportunities to improve, so that Nucor and its stockholders benefit to the greatest extent possible fromsocial strategies, including our teammates.most recent Equal Employment Opportunity EEO-1 report, can be found at www.nucor.com/esg.

Available Information

Nucor’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports, as well as proxy statements and other information, are available on our website at www.nucor.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after Nucor files these documents electronically with, or furnishes them to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

We use the investor relations portion of our website, www.nucor.com/investors, to distribute information, including as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. We routinely post and make accessible financial and other information regarding the Company on our website. Accordingly, investors should monitor the investor relations portion of our website, in addition to our press releases, SEC filings and other public communications. Except as otherwise expressly stated in these documents, the information contained on

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our website or available by hyperlink from our website is not a part of this report and is not incorporated into this report or any other documents we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.

Many of the factors that affect our business and operations involve risk and uncertainty. The factors described below are some of the risks that could materially negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Industry Specific Risk Factors

Overcapacity in the global steel industry could increase the level of steel imports, which may negatively affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Recent additions of new steelmaking capacityGlobal steel production overcapacity continues to be an ongoing risk to Nucor and the decrease inentire steel production due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused excess steelmaking capacity to grow during the last two years after several years of decline. According to theindustry. The OECD estimated that global steel production overcapacity is projected to bewould grow from approximately 776556.1 million metric tons in 2020.2022 to more than 600 million metric tons 2023, with additional capacity expected to come online over the next few years. China continues to be a significant contributor to excess steelmaking capacity.capacity, producing more than one billion tons of steel in each of the past four years, despite slower economic growth. China is also investing in new steelmaking capacity in several countries in southeast Asia and Africa.

During periods of global economic weakness, the effects of this overcapacity isare amplified because of weaker global demand for steel and steel products. This excess capacity often results inSteel manufacturers in certain countries exportingnon-market economies tend not to adjust their production levels in line with regional demand and instead export significant amounts of steel and steel products at prices that arecan be at or below their costs of production. In some countries with non-market economies, the steel industry is often subsidized or owned in whole or in part by the government, giving importedwhich can provide these producers with cost advantages or cause their production decisions to be driven by political or social factors rather than price and demand signals. Surplus output from steel from thoseproducers in these countries certain cost advantages.can flow into the U.S. market. These imports to the U.S., which are also affected by demand in the U.S. domestic market, international currency conversion rates, and domestic and international government actions, can result in downward pressure on realized steel prices for Nucor, which couldcan materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

In March 2018, the Trump Administration imposed a 25% tariff or quota limits on all imported steel products for an indefinite period of time under Section 232 steel tariffs are currently keeping some dumped steel products out of the Trade Expansion Act. Since then both the Trump and Biden Administrations have negotiated tariff rate quotas with several countries allowing them to export a set amount of steel to the U.S. market. The U.S. government has also been negotiating new trade agreements with many countries, including China, which may provide another opportunitymarket without being subject to address excess steelmaking capacity. Should these efforts be abandoned or fail to reduceSection 232 tariffs. In December of 2022, the impact of global excess capacity andWorld Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the Section 232 tariffs be lifted,violated U.S. WTO commitments. The U.S. government strongly disagrees with the ruling and is appealing. When the Section 232 or other import tariffs, quotas or duties expire or if others are further relaxed or repealed, or if relatively higher U.S. steel prices make it attractive for foreign steelmakers would be at greater risk of having to compete againstexport their steel products dumped into the U.S. market., despite the presence of import tariffs, quotas or duties, the resurgence of substantial imports of foreign steel could create downward pressure on U.S. steel prices.

Our business requires substantial capital investment and maintenance expenditures, and our capital resources may not be adequate to provide for all of our cash requirements.

Our operations are capital intensive.business requires substantial expenditures for routine maintenance and to remain competitive. For the three-year period ended December 31, 2020,2023, our total capital expenditures were approximately $4.04$5.87 billion. Our businessWe have also requiresrecently announced substantial expenditures for routine maintenance.capital projects that we expect will increase production capacity, increase the efficiency of our operations and enhance our product offerings. Although we expect requirements for our business needs, including the funding of capital expenditures, debt service for financings and any contingencies, will be financed by internally generated funds, short-term commercial paper issuance,issuances, offerings of our debt and equity securities or from borrowings under our $1.50$1.75 billion unsecured revolving credit facility, we cannot guarantee that this will be the case. Additional acquisitions, increases in interest rates or unforeseen events could require financing from additional sources.

Changes in the availability and cost of electricity and natural gas are subject to volatile market conditions that could adversely affect our business.

Our steel mills are large consumers of electricity and natural gas. In addition, our DRI facilities are also large consumers of natural gas. We rely upon third parties for our supply of energy resources consumed in the manufacture of our products. The prices for and availability of electricity and natural gas can be volatile. They are subject to volatile market conditions. These market conditions often are affected by weather, political, regulatory and economic factors beyond our control, and we may be unable to raise the price of our products to coveroffset increased energy costs. Disruptions, including physical or information systems related

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issues, that impact the supply of our energy resources could temporarily impair our ability to manufacture our products for our customers. Increases in our energy costs resulting from regulations that are not equallysimilarly applicable across the entire global steel marketto our competitors' operations could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Competition from other steel producers, imports or alternative materials may adversely affect our business.

We face strongongoing competition from other steel producers and imports that compete with our products on price, quality and service. The steel markets for our products are highly competitive and a number of firms, domestic and foreign, participate in the steel, steel products and raw materials markets. Depending on a variety of factors, including the cost and availability of raw materials, energy, technology, labor, transportation and capital costs, currency exchange rates, and government subsidies of foreign steel producers and other global political and economic factors, our business may be materially adversely affected by more intense competitive forces.

In many applications, steel competes with other materials, such as concrete, aluminum, plastics, composites and wood. Increased use or availability of these materials in substitution for steel products could have a material adverse effect on prices and demand for our steel products.

Since 2011, automobile producers have begun taking steps towards complying with new Corporate Average Fuel Economy mileage requirements for new cars and light trucks that they produce. As automobile producers work to produce vehicles in compliance with these new standards, they may seek to reduce the amount of steel they incorporate in their vehicles or begin utilizing alternative materials in cars and light trucks to improve fuel economy, thereby reducing their demand for steel. Certain automakers have begun to use greater amounts of aluminum and smaller proportions of steel in some models since 2015.

Our industry is cyclical and both recessions and prolonged periods of slow economic growth could have an adverse effect on our business.

Demand for most of our products is cyclical in nature and sensitive to general economic conditions. Our business supports cyclical industries, such as the commercial construction, energy, metals service centers, appliance and automotive industries. As a result, downturns in the U.S. economy or any of these industries could materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. The U.S. economy is recoveringhas experienced a strong recovery from its lows during the second quarter of 2020, butconditions experienced at the paceonset of the recoveryCOVID-19 pandemic, but related labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, new or proposed legislation related to governmental spending, inflation and increases in 2021interest rates have impacted, and will likely depend on how quickly the U.S. population is vaccinated and normal activities can resume as well as government stimulus programs or infrastructure spending.continue to impact, economic growth. Even with this economic recovery, challenges from global production overcapacity in the steel industry and ongoing uncertainties, both in the United States and in other regions of the world, remain.

We are unable to predict the duration of current economic conditions.conditions or the magnitude or timing of changes in economic activity. Future economic downturns, prolonged slow growth or stagnation in the economy, or a sector-specific slowdown in one of our key end-use markets, such as nonresidential construction, or changes in inflation could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, especially in light of the capital-intensive nature of our business.

The results of our operations are sensitive to volatility in steel prices and the cost and availability of raw materials, particularly scrap steel.

We rely to an extent on outside vendors to supply us with key consumables such as graphite electrodes, alloys and other raw materials, including both scrap and scrap substitutes (e.g., prime scrap, pig iron and DRI) that are critical to the manufacture of our steel products. The raw material required to produce DRI is pelletized iron ore. Although we have vertically integrated our business by constructing our DRI facilities in Trinidad and Louisiana and also by acquiring DJJour scrap processing and brokerage operations (“DJJ”) in 2008, we still must purchase most of our primary raw material, steel scrap, from numerous other sources located throughout the United States and internationally.

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Although we believe that the supply of scrap and scrap substitutes iswill remain adequate to operate our facilities, prices of these critical raw materials are volatile and are influenced by changes in scrap exports in response to changes in the scrap, scrap substitutes and iron ore demands of our global competitors, as well as volatility in currency fluctuations. rates and political conditions.

At any given time, we may be unable to obtain an adequate supply of these critical raw materials with price and other terms acceptable to us. The availability and prices of raw materials may also be negatively affected by new laws and regulations, allocation by suppliers, interruptions in production, accidents or natural disasters, war and other forms of armed conflict or political instability, changes in exchange rates, worldwide price fluctuations, including due to global political and economic factors, changes in governmental, business and consumer spending, inflation, increases in interest rates, labor shortages, and the availability and cost of transportation. Many countries that export steel into our markets restrict the export of scrap, protecting the supply chain of some foreign competitors. This trade practice creates an artificial competitive advantage for foreign producers that could limit our ability to compete in the U.S. market.

If our suppliers increase the prices of our critical raw materials, we may not have alternative sources of supply. In addition, to the extent that we have quoted prices to our customers and accepted customer orders for our products prior to purchasing necessary raw materials, we may be unable to raise the price of our products to cover all or part of the increased cost of the raw materials.materials or pass along increased transportation costs. Also, if we are unable to obtain adequate, cost-effective and timely deliveries of our required raw materials, we may be unable to timely manufacture sufficient quantities of our products. This could cause us to lose sales, incur additional costs, experience margin compressions or suffer harm to our reputation.reputation and customer relationships.

Our steelmaking processes, our DRI processes, and the manufacturing processes of many of our suppliers, customers and competitors are energy intensive and generate carbon dioxide and other GHGs. The regulation of these GHGs could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our operations are subject to numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, and, accordingly, we make provision in our financial statements for the estimated costs of compliance. There are inherent uncertainties in these estimates. Most notably, the uncertainty of policies, enforcement priorities, legislation and regulations related to climate change mitigation strategies pose the greatest risk.

As a carbon steel producer, Nucor could be increasingly affected both directly and indirectly ifby new or changing carbon policy decisions and mandates are not properly implemented.mandates. Carbon is an essential raw material in Nucor’s steel production processes. Furthermore, Nucor steel mills use significant amounts of electricity as all of its mills utilize EAFs for 100% of their steel melting operations and the costs associated with the decarbonization of electricity

generation is a significant concern.may lead to high power costs and decreased reliability. Significant changes to the regional power grids serving our steel mills and/or new rulemaking or legislation affecting the operation of these power grids could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Environmental regulation compliance and remediation could result in substantially increased costs and materially adversely impact our competitive position.

We incur significant costs in meeting ourto achieve and maintain compliance with environmental regulation complianceregulations and remediation obligations. The principal federal environmental laws include the CAA, thatwhich regulates air emissions; the CWA thatwhich regulates water withdrawals and discharges; the RCRA, thatwhich addresses solid and hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal; and the CERCLA, thatwhich governs releases of hazardous substances, and remediation of contaminated sites. Our operations are also subject to state and local environmental laws and regulations. Capital expenditures at our facilities that are associated with environmental regulation compliance for 2021 and 2022 are estimated to be less than $100 million per year.  

In addition to the above mentioned statutes, certain revisions to National Ambient Air Ambient Quality Standards, including the implementation actions/decisions of environmental agencies, could make it significantly more difficult for us to obtain construction permits and permits to expand existing operations. Resulting cancellations, delays or unanticipated costs to these projects could negatively impact our ability to generate expected returns on our investments. These regulations can also increase our cost of energy, primarily electricity, which we use extensively in the steelmaking process. We may in the future incur substantially increased costs complying with such regulations, particularly if federal regulatory agencies were to change their enforcement posture with respect to such regulations.

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Emerging customer preferences for greater product transparency and less GHG intensive materials may put us at a competitive disadvantage or reduce demand for our products.

NumerousThe federal government and numerous states including Washington, Oregon and New York, are considering establishing, or have already established, requirements for Environmental Product Declarations (“EPDs”) toso that consumers may more readily evaluate the environmental impacts of products. California has enacted the “Buy Clean California Act” and California has also established Global Warming Potential (GWP) benchmarks through EPDs for certain materials, including certain steel products. Currently, the federal government is considering similar legislation.  EPD legislation has caused Nucor to incur additional costs and has the potential to put domestic steel manufacturersNucor and its customers at a disadvantage to foreign competitors unless standardized mechanisms are used to fully evaluate products produced by foreign steel producers.

General Risk Factors

The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as similar epidemics and public health emergencies in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our operations expose us to risks associated with pandemics, epidemics and other public health emergencies, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which spread from China to many other countries including the United States. In March 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic, and the United States declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency.

We are a company operating in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As such, Nucor was deemed an essential or life‐sustaining operation and, accordingly, is currently able to maintain operations sufficient to meet our customers’ ongoing needs. In spite of our continued operations, the COVID-19 pandemic has had and may have further negative impacts on our operations, supply chain, transportation networks and customers, which may compress our margins, including as a result of preventative and precautionary measures that we, other businesses and governments are taking. The COVID-19 pandemic is a widespread public health crisis that is adversely affecting the economies of many countries and caused periodic disruption to financial markets. Any resulting economic downturn could adversely affect demand for our products and contribute to volatile supply and demand conditions affecting prices and volumes in the markets for our products and raw materials. The progression of the COVID-19 pandemic could also negatively impact our business or results of operations through the temporary closure of our operating facilities or those of our customers or suppliers.

In addition, the ability of our teammates and our suppliers’ and customers’ teammates to work may be significantly impacted by individuals contracting or being exposed to COVID-19. Our customers may be directly impacted by business interruptions or weak market conditions and may not be willing or able to fulfill their contractual obligations. Furthermore, the progression of and global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to cause and increases the risk of further delays in construction activities and equipment deliveries related to our capital projects, including potential delays in obtaining permits from government agencies. The extent of such delays and other effects of COVID-19 on our capital projects, certain of which are outside of our control, is unknown, but they could impact or delay the timing of anticipated benefits on capital projects.

The extent to which COVID-19 may adversely impact our business depends on future developments, which are highly uncertain and unpredictable, including new information concerning the severity of the pandemic, the availability of a vaccine, evolving strains of the virus, and the effectiveness of actions globally to contain or mitigate the effects of the pandemic. The current level of uncertainty over the economic and operational impacts of COVID-19 means the related financial impact cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.

We are subject to information technology and cyber securitycyber-security threats which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We utilize various information technology systems to efficiently address business functions ranging from the operation of our production equipment to administrative computation to the storage of data such as intellectual property and proprietary business information. We also utilize third-party service providers for certain information technology services that are important to our operations. We continuously evaluate our cyber-security systems and practices, assess potential threats, and improve our information technology networks, policies and procedures to address potential vulnerabilities. Despite efforts to assure secure and uninterrupted operations, threats from increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks or system failures could

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result in materially adverse operational disruptions or security breaches of our systems or those of our third-party service providers. These risks could result in disclosure or destruction of key proprietary information or personal data or reputational damage, theft of assets or trade secrets, or could adversely affect our ability to physically produce or transport steel, resulting in lost revenues, as well as delays in reporting our financial results. We also could be required to spend significant financial and other resources to remedy the damage caused by a securitycyber-security breach, including to repair or replace networks and information technology systems. We may also contend with potential liability for stolen information, increased cybersecuritycyber-security protection costs, litigation expense and increased insurance premiums.

Our operations are subject to business interruptions and casualty losses.

The steelmaking business is subject to numerous inherent risks, particularly unplanned events such as explosions, fires, other accidents, natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes or earthquakes, critical equipment failures, acts of terrorism, inclement weather and transportation interruptions. WhileNucor maintains property insurance for these types of losses but self-insures a significant portion of the program. Therefore, while our insurance coverage could offset a portion of the losses relating to some of those types of events, our results of operations and cash flows could be adversely impacted to the extent that any such losses are not covered by our insurance, or that there are significant delays in resolving our claims with our insurance providers.

We acquire businesses and enter into joint ventures from time to time and we may encounter difficulties in integrating businesses we acquire.

We plan to continue to seek attractive opportunities to acquire businesses, enter into joint ventures and make other investments that strengthen Nucor. Realizing the anticipated benefits of acquisitions or other transactions will depend on our ability to operate these businesses and integrate them with our operations, effectively identify and tomanage risks, and cooperate with our strategic partners. Our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially adversely affected if we are unable to successfully integrate these businesses.businesses or otherwise fail to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions or other transactions.

Risks associated with operating in international markets could adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.

Certain of our businesses and investments are located outside of the United States, in Canada, Mexico and in emerging markets. There are a number of risks inherent in doing business in or sourcing raw materials from such markets. These risks include, but are not limited to: unfavorable political or economic factors; local labor and social issues; changes in regulatory requirements; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;rates, interest rates and inflation; and complex foreign laws, treaties including tax laws, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA).1977. These risks could restrict our ability to operate our international businesses profitably and therefore have a negative impact on our financial position and results of operations. In addition, our reported results of operations and financial position could also be negatively affected by exchange rates when the activities and balances of our foreign operations are translated into U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes.

Pandemics, epidemics and other public health emergencies in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our operations expose us to risks associated with pandemics, epidemics and other public health emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic had and any future similar events may have negative impacts on our operations, supply chain, transportation networks and customers, which may compress our margins or impact demand for our steel products, including as a result of preventative and precautionary measures that we, other businesses and governments have taken or may take in the future.

In addition, the ability of our teammates and our suppliers’ and customers’ teammates to work may be significantly impacted by these types of public health emergencies. Our customers may be directly impacted by business interruptions or weak market conditions and may not be willing or able to fulfill their contractual obligations. Furthermore, the progression of and global response to these types of public health emergencies, as was the case with the COVID-19 pandemic, can cause and increase the risk of delays in construction activities and equipment deliveries related to our capital projects, including potential delays in obtaining permits from government agencies, as well as changes in the prices and availability of labor and equipment for capital projects.

The accounting treatment of equity method investments, goodwill and other long-lived assets could result in future asset impairments, which would reduce our earnings.

We periodically test our equity method investments, goodwill and other long-lived assets to determine whether their estimated fair value is less than their value recorded on our balance sheet. The results of this testing for potential impairment may be adversely affected by uncertain market conditions for the global steel industry, as well as changes in interest rates, commodity prices and general economic conditions. If we determine that the fair value of any of these assets is less than the value recorded on our balance sheet, and, in the case of equity method investments the decline is other than temporary, we would likely incur a non-cash impairment loss that would negatively impact our results of operations.

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Tax increases and changes in tax laws and regulations or exposure to additional tax liabilities could adversely affect our financial results.

The steel industry and our business are sensitive to changes in taxes. As a company based in the United States, Nucor is more exposed to the effects of changes in U.S. tax laws than some of our major competitors. Our provision for income taxes and cash tax liability in the future could be adversely affected by changes in U.S. tax laws.

Nucor recognizes the effect of income tax positions only if those positions are believed to be more likely than not of being sustained. We cannot predict whether taxing authorities will conduct an audit challenging any of our tax positions and there can be no assurance as to the outcome of any challenges. If we are unsuccessful in any of these matters, we may be required to pay taxes for prior periods, interest, fines or penalties.

We are subject to legal proceedings and legal compliance risks.

We spend substantial resources ensuring that we comply with domestic and foreign regulations, contractual obligations and other legal standards. Notwithstanding this, we are subject to a variety of legal proceedings and legal compliance risks in respect of various issues, including regulatory, safety, environmental, employment, transportation, intellectual property, contractual, import/export, international trade and governmental matters that arise in the course of our business and in our industry. For information regarding our current significant legal proceedings, see “Item 3. Legal Proceedings.” A negative outcome in an unusual or significant legal proceeding or compliance investigation could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. While we believe that we have adopted appropriate risk management and compliance programs, the nature of our operations means that legal compliance risks will continue to exist and additional legal proceedings and other contingencies, the outcome of which cannot be predicted with certainty, will arise from time to time.

Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 1C. Cybersecurity

Nucor recognizes the importance of developing, implementing, and maintaining effective cybersecurity measures designed to protect our information systems and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our data. We face a number of information technology and cybersecurity threats which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Notwithstanding the Company’s cybersecurity framework and preventative strategies, we may not be successful in preventing or mitigating a cybersecurity incident that could have a material adverse effect on us. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for a discussion of cybersecurity risks.

None.

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We own allmost of our principal operating facilities. These facilities, by segment, are as follows: