Nucor Corp (NUE) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to Nucor's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) And today's call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加紐柯 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）今天的通話正在錄音。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to introduce Jack Sullivan, General Manager of Nucor Investor Relations. You may begin your call.

現在我想介紹一下紐柯鋼鐵公司投資者關係部總經理傑克·沙利文。您可以開始通話了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Nucor's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Review and Business Update. Leading our call today is Leon Topalian, Chair, President and CEO; along with Steve Laxton, Executive Vice President and CFO. We also have other members of Nucor's executive team with us, including Dave Sumoski, Chief Operating Officer; Al Behr, responsible for Plate and Structural Products; Brad Ford, over Fabricated Construction Products; Noah Hanners, Raw Materials; John Hollatz, Bar and Rebar Fabrication; Doug Jellison, Corporate Strategy; Greg Murphy, Business Services, Sustainability and General Counsel; Dan Needham, Commercial; Rex Query, Sheet Products; and Chad Utermark, New Products and Innovation.

謝謝大家，大家早安。歡迎閱讀紐柯 2024 年第一季財報回顧和業務更新。今天主持我們電話會議的是主席、總裁兼執行長 Leon Topalian；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Steve Laxton。我們還有紐柯執行團隊的其他成員，包括營運長戴夫‧蘇莫斯基 (Dave Sumoski)； Al Behr，負責板材和結構產品； Brad Ford，關於組裝式建築品；諾亞·漢納斯，原料； John Hollat​​z，鋼筋和鋼筋製造；道格·傑里森，企業策略； Greg Murphy，商業服務、永續發展和總法律顧問；丹·尼達姆，商業； Rex查詢，板材產品；和 Chad Utermark，新產品和創新。

We posted our first quarter earnings release and presentation to the Nucor Investor Relations website, and we encourage you to access these materials as we'll cover portions of them during the call.

我們在紐柯投資者關係網站上發布了第一季財報和演示文稿，我們鼓勵您存取這些資料，因為我們將在電話會議期間介紹其中的部分內容。

Today's discussion will include the use of non-GAAP financial measures and forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws. Actual results may be different than forward-looking statements and involve risks outlined in our safe harbor statement and disclosed in Nucor's SEC filings. The appendix of today's presentation includes supplemental information and disclosures, along with a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures.

今天的討論將包括使用非公認會計準則財務指標和證券法含義內的前瞻性資訊。實際結果可能與前瞻性聲明不同，並涉及我們的安全港聲明中概述和紐柯向 SEC 文件中披露的風險。今天簡報的附錄包括補充資訊和揭露，以及非公認會計準則財務指標的調節表。

So with that, let's turn the call over to Leon.

那麼，讓我們把電話轉給 Leon。

Thanks, Jack, and welcome, everyone. I'd like to begin by congratulating our 32,000 Nucor teammates for a safe and profitable start to 2024.

謝謝，傑克，歡迎大家。首先，我要祝賀我們的 32,000 名紐柯員工在 2024 年安全、獲利地開局。

In the first quarter, we generated EBITDA of approximately $1.5 billion and net earnings of $845 million or $3.46 per diluted share. For the quarter, we shipped a total of 6.2 million tons to outside customers, up 5% from the prior quarter and in line with our average quarterly shipments for 2023. Pricing also remained strong in the first quarter. Average steel mill pricing per ton was up nearly 10% compared to the prior quarter and slightly ahead of the average for all of 2023. For Steel Products, realized prices continue to moderate. However, prices have held consistently above pre-pandemic levels and will continue to generate robust returns.

第一季度，我們的 EBITDA 約為 15 億美元，淨利潤為 8.45 億美元，即稀釋後每股收益 3.46 美元。本季度，我們總共向外部客戶出貨了 620 萬噸，比上一季成長 5%，與 2023 年平均季度出貨量一致。鋼廠每噸平均定價較上一季上漲近 10%，略高於 2023 年全年平均水準。然而，價格一直保持在大流行前的水平之上，並將繼續產生強勁的回報。

In keeping with our commitments to shareholders and our balanced approach to capital allocation, Nucor returned over $1.1 billion to shareholders through dividend payments and share repurchases in the first quarter. We made good progress on key capital investment projects during the quarter. And as we've mentioned previously, our capital spending will increase this year as we get further along in the construction phase of our West Virginia sheet mill and our Lexington, North Carolina rebar micro mill. We're also advancing work on 2 downstream production facilities that are part of our Nucor Towers & Structures growth platform.

為了履行我們對股東的承諾和平衡的資本配置方式，紐柯公司第一季透過股利支付和股票回購向股東返還了超過 11 億美元。本季重點資本投資項目取得良好進展。正如我們之前提到的，隨著我們西維吉尼亞板材廠和北卡羅來納州列剋星敦螺紋鋼微型軋機建設階段的進一步進展，我們今年的資本支出將會增加。我們也正在推動 2 個下游生產設施的工作，這些設施是我們紐柯塔樓和結構成長平台的一部分。

On the safety front, our team delivered the safest quarter in Nucor's history with an injury and illness rate roughly 30% lower than that of Q1 last year. I'm incredibly proud of the steady progress we have been making since 2017 to drive down the number of safety incidents we experienced. Our goal to become the world's safest steel company will require the steadfast determination, innovation and continuous improvement in how we operate. We have the most capable team assembled anywhere in the world, who are all focused on delivering these results and taking great care of one another, our customers, and shareholders.

在安全方面，我們的團隊實現了紐柯歷史上最安全的季度，受傷和盛行率比去年第一季下降了約 30%。我對自 2017 年以來我們在減少安全事故數量方面取得的穩定進展感到無比自豪。我們成為世界上最安全的鋼鐵公司的目標需要堅定的決心、創新和持續改進我們的營運方式。我們擁有世界上最有能力的團隊，他們都專注於交付這些成果，並互相照顧、照顧我們的客戶和股東。

Building on our leadership position in sustainability continues to be a high priority, and we kicked off 2024 with several exciting initiatives. In March, we signed an agreement with Mercedes-Benz to supply Econiq-RE for vehicles produced at its Tuscaloosa, Alabama manufacturing plant. Econiq-RE is made with 100% renewable energy and has a greenhouse gas intensity less than half that of extractive blast furnace-based steel production across Scopes 1, 2 and 3. Our agreement with Mercedes-Benz is another example of how we're partnering with world-class customers to reduce carbon emissions within their supply chain.

鞏固我們在永續發展方面的領導地位仍然是我們的重中之重，我們以多項令人興奮的舉措開啟了 2024 年。 3 月，我們與梅賽德斯-奔馳簽署了一項協議，為其阿拉巴馬州塔斯卡盧薩製造工廠生產的車輛提供 Econiq-RE。 Econiq-RE 採用100% 再生能源製成，在範圍1、2 和3 中，其溫室氣體強度不到基於高爐煉鋼生產的一半。氣體排放的另一個例子。

We also announced a new initiative with Google and Microsoft to scale the adoption of clean energy technologies. Developers of such technologies often struggle to find creditworthy and large-scale energy customers to advance early-stage projects. We aim to lower these obstacles by aggregating our energy needs with others, like Google and Microsoft, that will seek affordable, reliable and cleaner forms of energy. Going forward, we'll be working with energy providers, policymakers, and other large energy consumers to advance this work.

我們也宣布了與Google和微軟合作的一項新舉措，以擴大清潔能源技術的採用。此類技術的開發商通常很難找到信譽良好的大型能源客戶來推進早期專案。我們的目標是透過與Google和微軟等其他公司整合我們的能源需求來降低這些障礙，這些公司將尋求負擔得起的、可靠的和更清潔的能源形式。展望未來，我們將與能源供應商、政策制定者和其他大型能源消費者合作，以推進這項工作。

Nucor continues to receive recognition for our sustainability efforts. Earlier this year, Barron's magazine designated Nucor the only steel company ranked among its Top 100 Most Sustainable Companies. Congratulations to our entire Nucor team for this well-deserved recognition of your commitment to operating sustainably each and every day.

紐柯公司的可持續發展努力繼續獲得認可。今年早些時候，《巴倫周刊》將紐柯列為唯一一家躋身最具永續發展能力企業 100 強的鋼鐵公司。恭喜我們整個紐柯團隊獲得當之無愧的認可，表彰您每天致力於永續營運的承諾。

Turning to our commercial strategy. We're always looking for better ways to serve our customers, which has led us to introduce weekly pricing updates for our hot-rolled coil sheet products. Nucor's Consumer Spot Price, or CSP for short, will provide customers with reliable, real-time pricing information for hot-rolled coil. The CSP will provide our customers with better information to make better decisions to meet their needs. Having real-time pricing, coupled with shorter lead times, will help our customers reduce the risks inherent in price speculation. While the CSP pricing framework has only been in place for a few weeks, the customer feedback thus far has been positive.

轉向我們的商業策略。我們一直在尋找更好的方式來服務客戶，這促使我們每週更新熱軋捲板產品的價格。紐柯的消費者現貨價格（簡稱CSP）將為客戶提供可靠、即時的熱軋捲價格資訊。 CSP 將為我們的客戶提供更好的信息，以便做出更好的決策來滿足他們的需求。即時定價以及更短的交貨時間將有助於我們的客戶降低價格投機所固有的風險。雖然 CSP 定價框架才實施了幾週，但迄今為止客戶的回饋都是正面的。

On the corporate strategy front, 2024 is off to a productive start. We recently announced the acquisition of Southwest Data Products, a reputable manufacturer and installer of data center infrastructure with an impressive blue-chip customer base. With that, I'd like to welcome the 147 team members at Southwest Data Products to the Nucor family.

在企業策略方面，2024 年是個有成效的開局。我們最近宣布收購 Southwest Data Products，這是一家信譽良好的資料中心基礎設施製造商和安裝商，擁有令人印象深刻的藍籌客戶群。在此，我謹歡迎 Southwest Data Products 的 147 位團隊成員加入 Nucor 大家庭。

In conjunction with this transaction, we're launching a new business unit, Nucor Data Systems, to better serve the data center market. Southwest Data Products gives Nucor expanded capabilities in airflow containment structures, which help data centers run more efficiently by separating cold air from the heat generated by racks of server equipment.

結合此交易，我們將推出一個新的業務部門 Nucor Data Systems，以更好地服務資料中心市場。西南資料產品為紐柯公司提供了氣流遏制結構的擴展功能，透過將冷空氣與伺服器設備機架產生的熱量分開，幫助資料中心更有效地運作。

The team at Southwest has a strong reputation for engineering and manufacturing high-quality products and installing them in a timely and professional way. They have also deep relationships with many of the largest data center, codevelopers and hyperscalers, which Nucor can leverage to cross-sell our other downstream products.

西南航空的團隊在設計和製造高品質產品並及時、專業地安裝產品方面享有盛譽。他們也與許多最大的資料中心、聯合開發商和超大規模企業建立了深厚的關係，紐柯可以利用這些關係來交叉銷售我們的其他下游產品。

The rise of artificial intelligence and the growing reliance on cloud computing are driving strong demand for the next-generation data centers, and this market is expected to grow at double-digit annual rates through the end of this decade. We continue to evaluate other acquisition opportunities in high-growth sectors, and we have a robust pipeline of compelling prospects aligned with steel-adjacent growth trends.

人工智慧的興起和對雲端運算的日益依賴正在推動對下一代資料中心的強勁需求，預計到本十年末，該市場將以兩位數的年增長率增長。我們繼續評估高成長產業的其他收購機會，並且我們擁有與鋼鐵相關成長趨勢一致的強大前景，具有令人信服的前景。

Before turning it over to Steve, I'd like to take a moment to comment on recent updates to our nation's trade enforcement policy. Earlier this month, I attended a World Steel Association meeting where I currently serve as Chair. And during that meeting, we discussed the ongoing challenges posed by global production overcapacity. The U.S. Commerce Department recently published a final rule designed to strengthen its antidumping and countervailing duty regulations. These rule changes are a positive development for Nucor and the entire steel industry as they strengthen the enforcement of existing trade laws. We appreciate the Commerce Department for making these necessary changes, but we still believe it's crucial for Congress to pass the Level the Playing Field 2.0 legislation to give commerce additional tools that address trade-distorting behaviors.

在將其交給史蒂夫之前，我想花點時間評論我國貿易執法政策的最新更新。本月早些時候，我參加了世界鋼鐵協會的會議，目前我擔任主席。在那次會議上，我們討論了全球產能過剩帶來的持續挑戰。美國商務部最近發布了一項最終規則，旨在加強其反傾銷和反補貼稅監管。這些規則變化對紐柯鋼鐵和整個鋼鐵業來說是一個積極的發展，因為它們加強了現有貿易法的執行。我們感謝商務部做出這些必要的改變，但我們仍然認為國會通過公平競爭環境 2.0 立法至關重要，以便為商務提供解決貿易扭曲行為的額外工具。

With that, I'll turn it over to Steve, who'll share some more details on our Q1 financial results. Steve?

接下來，我將把它交給史蒂夫，他將分享我們第一季財務表現的更多細節。史蒂夫？

Thank you, Leon, and thank you all for joining our call this morning. The first quarter of 2024 saw Nucor advance its growth strategy, made meaningful commercial moves and continue to differentiate itself. We also had a solid start to the year on the earnings front with net earnings of $845 million or $3.46 a share. This was nearly 10% higher than our prior quarter earnings per share but came in roughly 4% below the midpoint of our first quarter earnings guidance range. So I'd like to take a minute to share some color on that.

謝謝萊昂，也謝謝大家今天早上加入我們的電話會議。 2024 年第一季度，紐柯推進了其成長策略，採取了有意義的商業舉措，並繼續保持差異化。今年我們在獲利方面也取得了良好的開局，淨利潤為 8.45 億美元，即每股 3.46 美元。這比我們上一季的每股收益高出近 10%，但比我們第一季收益指引範圍的中點低約 4%。所以我想花一點時間來分享一些關於這個問題的看法。

First, and most important, results from the 3 operating segments were generally in line with our forecast for the first quarter. However, certain administrative costs and intercompany eliminations exceeded our estimates. Some of the larger drivers of higher-than-expected administrative costs related to employee benefits, such as medical insurance coverage.

首先，也是最重要的一點，三個營運部門的業績大致上符合我們對第一季的預測。然而，某些管理成本和公司間抵銷超出了我們的估計。行政成本高於預期的一些較大驅動因素與員工福利有關，例如醫療保險。

Intercompany eliminations had a more pronounced impact. Higher-than-expected eliminations were a function of 2 things. One driver was the delivery of more materials from Nucor divisions to our own construction projects than expected. This is predominantly a timing difference between our pre-guidance assumptions and what actually materialized. The second driver was more activity and profits than anticipated between our operating divisions.

公司間抵銷的影響更為明顯。淘汰率高於預期是由兩件事造成的。推動因素之一是從紐柯鋼鐵各部門向我們自己的建築項目交付的材料比預期多。這主要是我們的預先指導假設與實際實現之間的時間差異。第二個驅動因素是我們的營運部門之間的活動和利潤超出預期。

As most of you know, Nucor has a diverse and integrated set of businesses. This aspect provides strategic benefit, synergies, and risk mitigation over long periods of time. However, that same beneficial attribute can result in short-term adjustments to earnings recognition, particularly during periods of higher rates of change in volume and realized pricing, both of which occurred in the first quarter. Generally speaking, these intercompany eliminations are simply timing differences between segment-level earnings recognition and the final sale to our customers.

正如大多數人所知，紐柯擁有多元化、全面性的業務。這方面提供了長期的策略利益、綜效和風險緩解。然而，同樣的有利屬性可能會導致收益確認的短期調整，特別是在數量和實現定價變化率較高的時期，這兩者都發生在第一季。一般來說，這些公司間抵銷只是部門層級的收益確認和最終銷售給客戶之間的時間差異。

With respect to our operating segment results, our steel mills improved pretax earnings nearly 90% from the prior quarter, generating approximately $1.1 billion in pretax earnings for the first quarter. Improved results in our sheet business was the largest factor driving the quarter-over-quarter gains. That business saw approximately 11% increase in shipments and 19% higher realized pricing during the quarter.

就我們的營運部門業績而言，我們的鋼廠稅前獲利比上一季提高了近 90%，第一季稅前獲利約為 11 億美元。我們板材業務業績的改善是推動季度環比成長的最大因素。該業務本季的出貨量成長了約 11%，實現定價成長了 19%。

Moving to Steel Products. This segment delivered pretax earnings of approximately $512 million for the quarter. Total segment shipments were down approximately 4% from the prior quarter. We believe an unusually wet start to the year may have adversely affected some regional construction activity during the period. While margins for downstream steel products have receded from the historically high levels of recent years, the segment continues to generate attractive returns and strong cash flows.

轉向鋼鐵產品。該部門本季稅前收益約為 5.12 億美元。分部總出貨量較上一季下降約 4%。我們認為，今年年初異常潮濕的天氣可能對該期間的一些地區建築活動產生了不利影響。儘管下游鋼鐵產品的利潤率已從近年來的歷史高點回落，但該領域繼續產生有吸引力的回報和強勁的現金流。

Highlighting a few individual product lines, the first quarter saw higher pricing and margin from our tubular products divisions. This was more than offset by moderating contributions from our joist and deck, metal buildings, and rebar fabrication operations. Our joist and deck business continues to be the largest single contributor to our steel products segment earnings. This business tends to have backlogs and lead times of 4 to 6 months. Consequently, we believe the earnings profile of our joist and deck business will likely stabilize as we approach the back half of the year, given the relative stability we've seen in pricing over the last quarter. It's worth noting that for the foreseeable future, this business is expected to maintain results that remain considerably higher than pre-pandemic averages.

第一季度，我們的管材產品部門的定價和利潤率有所提高，突顯了一些單獨的產品線。這被我們的托樑和甲板、金屬建築和鋼筋製造業務的貢獻減弱所抵消。我們的托樑和甲板業務仍然是我們鋼鐵產品部門收益的最大單一貢獻者。該業務往往有積壓訂單，交貨時間為 4 至 6 個月。因此，鑑於我們在上個季度看到的定價相對穩定，我們相信，隨著下半年的臨近，我們的托樑和甲板業務的獲利狀況可能會趨於穩定。值得注意的是，在可預見的未來，該業務預計將保持遠高於疫情前平均的業績。

Our Raw Materials segment produced pretax earnings of approximately $10 million for the quarter. Overall, volumes were higher but lower metallics prices compressed margin for the segment.

我們的原物料部門本季稅前收益約為 1,000 萬美元。總體而言，銷量增加，但金屬價格下跌壓縮了該領域的利潤率。

Let me now turn our attention to the balance sheet and capital allocation. We began the year with a strong cash position and generated $460 million in cash from operating activities in the first quarter. These factors enabled Nucor to continue its balanced approach to capital allocation, enabling growth through investment, providing direct shareholder returns and maintaining a strong investment-grade rating.

現在讓我把注意力轉向資產負債表和資本配置。今年伊始，我們的現金狀況強勁，第一季的營運活動產生了 4.6 億美元的現金。這些因素使紐柯能夠繼續採用平衡的資本配置方法，透過投資實現成長，提供直接的股東回報並維持強勁的投資等級評級。

On the growth front, during the first quarter, we continued to advance our strategy, deploying $670 million in capital spending, with progress made on several greenfield and expansion projects described earlier. The first quarter also saw Nucor return over $1.1 billion back to its shareholders. This includes $134 million in dividends and $1 billion in share repurchases, which reduced our share count by 5.5 million shares.

在成長方面，第一季度，我們繼續推動策略，部署了 6.7 億美元的資本支出，前面描述的幾個新建和擴建項目取得了進展。第一季紐柯公司也向股東返還了超過 11 億美元。其中包括 1.34 億美元的股息和 10 億美元的股票回購，這使我們的股票數量減少了 550 萬股。

It has long been Nucor's practice to put capital to use or return it. This discipline was on display again in the first quarter, where repurchasing activity was higher than normal due to our sizable cash balance at the start of the year. Today, we continue to have the healthy cash and liquidity position, an enabler of our expected near-term CapEx plans and pipeline of acquisition opportunities. Nucor's balance sheet remains robust, a financial practice that both maintains a strong investment-grade rating and enables our long-term orientation and success. We ended the quarter with a total debt to capital ratio of approximately 24% and total leverage of roughly 1x trailing 12-month EBITDA.

投入資本或歸還資本一直是紐柯公司的做法。這種紀律在第一季再次表現出來，由於年初我們擁有大量現金餘額，回購活動高於正常水平。今天，我們繼續擁有健康的現金和流動性狀況，這是我們預期的近期資本支出計劃和收購機會管道的推動者。紐柯鋼鐵公司的資產負債表仍然穩健，這種財務實踐既保持了強勁的投資級評級，又使我們能夠實現長期目標和成功。本季結束時，我們的總負債與資本比率約為 24%，總槓桿約為過去 12 個月 EBITDA 的 1 倍。

Looking ahead to the second quarter of 2024, we expect consolidated earnings to be lower than the first quarter with reduced earnings from our steel mill and steel products segment, partly offset by modest improvements in earnings from our raw materials segment.

展望 2024 年第二季度，我們預計綜合收益將低於第一季度，因為我們的鋼廠和鋼鐵產品部門的收益減少，但部分被我們原材料部門收益的小幅改善所抵消。

Lower earnings from our steel mills segment are the largest drivers of our reduced outlook for second quarter earnings. For this segment, we expect slightly higher volumes to be more than offset by lower realized prices. We anticipate our sheet business will be the largest driver of change in results for the steel mill segment and for the overall company.

鋼廠部門的獲利下降是我們下調第二季獲利預期的最大因素。對於該細分市場，我們預期銷售量的略微增加將被較低的實際價格所抵銷。我們預計我們的板材業務將成為鋼廠部門和整個公司業績變化的最大推動力。

Our steel products segment continues to moderate from historically high record levels of performance. For this segment in the second quarter, we expect higher volumes and lower realized pricing with the net effect being slightly lower earnings for the segment.

我們的鋼鐵產品部門繼續從歷史最高的業績水準回落。對於第二季的這一細分市場，我們預期銷量會增加，實際定價會降低，淨效應是該細分市場的收益略有下降。

For the raw materials segment, stable volumes and improved margins should result in an overall higher profitability. Overall, across all businesses, backlogs remain healthy and in line with historic norms. However, the anticipated reduction in realized pricing for our steel mills and steel products segment in the second quarter are expected to lead to lower overall cash flows and earnings.

對於原材料部門來說，穩定的銷售和提高的利潤率應該會帶來整體更高的獲利能力。總體而言，在所有企業中，積壓訂單保持健康並符合歷史正常水平。然而，第二季鋼廠和鋼鐵產品部門實際定價的預期下降預計將導致整體現金流和收益下降。

On a macro level, the U.S. economy appears to demonstrate near-term resilience. That strength, relative to recent past expectations, is an overall positive. In addition, select end markets, such as advanced manufacturing, data centers, and infrastructure, continue to show strength from secular trends. Taken collectively, near-term demand appears stable. Looking further out, we remain cautiously optimistic on demand fundamentals, given the positive trends of reshoring, repowering and rebuilding.

從宏觀層面來看，美國經濟似乎展現出近期的韌性。相對於最近的預期，這種實力總體上是正面的。此外，先進製造、資料中心和基礎設施等特定終端市場繼續顯示出長期趨勢的強勁勢頭。整體而言，近期需求似乎穩定。展望未來，鑑於回流、重新供電和重建的正面趨勢，我們對需求基本面保持謹慎樂觀。

With that, we'd like to hear from you and answer any questions. Operator, please open the line for Q&A.

因此，我們希望收到您的來信並回答您的任何問題。接線員，請開通問答線。

(Operator Instructions) So your first question comes from Martin Englert from Seaport Research Partners.

（操作員說明）所以您的第一個問題來自 Seaport Research Partners 的 Martin Englert。

Within the steel mill segment, both bar and plate volumes were down double digits versus last year. Also, overall steel products volumes were down to a similar degree. Do you anticipate a similar trend of kind of double-digit declines in these products are going to continue in 2Q? Or is the sequential volume improvement expected going to start to offset this where we'll see something potentially lower?

在鋼廠領域，棒材和板材銷售量比去年下降了兩位數。此外，鋼鐵產品整體銷售量也出現類似程度的下降。您預計這些產品第二季將繼續出現類似的兩位數下降趨勢嗎？或者預計銷量的連續改善是否會開始抵消這一點，而我們會看到潛在的下降？

Look, Martin, I certainly appreciate your question. We're -- as we look out, markets are moderating. And I think one of the important things to keep in mind more broadly is when you think about the context of record years like '21, '22, '23, we believe '24 is going to be another strong year, maybe not as strong as 2024 however.

聽著，馬丁，我當然很感激你的問題。正如我們所看到的，市場正在放緩。我認為更廣泛地記住的重要事情之一是，當你考慮到「21」、「22」、「23」等創紀錄年份的背景時，我們相信「24」將是另一個強勁的一年，也許不會那麼強勁然而到了 2024 年。

When we (inaudible) play for our products, either flat or including volumes Q-over-Q, so we expect Q2's volumes to be a little substantial. But although better, excuse me, stronger, but as we look at pricing, it is moderating. But again, context is a really important thing. So for example, in the products group, while that's coming off the historic highs, it is way, way above what we saw pre-pandemic level. So we believe we've seen a pretty stable market out there regarding that group.

當我們（聽不清楚）為我們的產品進行遊戲時，無論是持平還是包括季度環比的銷量，因此我們預計第二季度的銷量會有點大。但是，儘管更好，對不起，更強，但當我們考慮定價時，它正在放緩。但同樣，背景是非常重要的事。例如，在產品類別中，雖然它已脫離歷史高點，但仍遠高於我們在疫情前看到的水平。因此，我們相信我們已經看到該群體的市場相當穩定。

So I don't want to break out individual or break out individual pricing within those product groups. We're expecting Q2 to be a little softer. But again, it's relative. I still think there's going to be many of our product groups that are going to generate very robust returns for us and our shareholders.

因此，我不想在這些產品組中單獨列出或單獨定價。我們預計第二季會更加疲軟。但同樣，這是相對的。我仍然認為我們的許多產品組將為我們和我們的股東帶來非常強勁的回報。

And a couple of those that are -- as Steve mentioned in his opening remarks, as we look at markets across the segments, really keeps the heavy equipment having -- transportation is really the only area that we see declining in a little bit from an overall demand picture. Other than that, construction, automotive, energy, service centers, we see flat, stable or slightly improving as we get into Q2.

正如史蒂夫在開場白中提到的那樣，當我們審視各個細分市場的市場時，其中一些確實使重型設備保持不變——運輸確實是我們看到的唯一一個略有下降的領域。需求圖景。除此之外，進入第二季度，建築、汽車、能源、服務中心的情況將持平、穩定或略有改善。

Great. Within steel mills, the estimated conversion cost looks like it declined modestly versus the prior quarter. Would you expect a similar sequential decline in 2Q on conversion costs per ton, given higher volumes, maybe something similar to the year-ago comparable period?

偉大的。在鋼廠內，預計轉換成本與上一季相比略有下降。鑑於產量增加，您是否預期第二季每噸轉換成本會出現類似的連續下降，也許與去年同期類似？

Thanks for the question, Martin. This is Dave. Our costs are down slightly mainly because of the utilization rates P&L. (inaudible) and also Gallatin played a big role. I don't think that there's a whole lot more decline. So we think that the cost has stabilized. You can expect them to be maybe a little bit down but certainly than what you saw in the first quarter.

謝謝你的提問，馬丁。這是戴夫。我們的成本略有下降，主要是因為利用率損益。 （聽不清楚）加勒廷也發揮了重要作用。我不認為會有更多的下降。所以我們認為成本已經穩定。你可以預期它們可能會有所下降，但肯定比你在第一季看到的要低。

Okay, that's helpful. If I could, one last quick one. Raw materials expected to improve in 2Q on both DRI and the recycling operations. What do you believe is going to drive the improvement recycling, given recent pricing trends? And why has that been challenged from a margin strength perspective in recent quarters?

好的，這很有幫助。如果可以的話，最後一擊。原料 DRI 和回收業務預計將在第二季有所改善。鑑於最近的定價趨勢，您認為什麼將推動回收利用的改善？為什麼從最近幾季的利潤率角度來看，這一點受到了挑戰？

Martin, this is Noah. Let's talk about recycling first, then I want to go back and just hit on your point about DRIs. Well, really, the answer is margin compression in scrap pricing has been lower. We peaked in December. We've seen declining price month-over-month since, and we expect those prices to stabilize and stabilizing demand, as mentioned in the opening remarks. So we expect normalization of margin there.

馬丁，這是諾亞。我們先談談回收，然後我想回頭談談你關於 DRI 的觀點。好吧，實際上，答案是廢鋼定價的利潤率壓縮較低。我們在 12 月達到頂峰。從那以後，我們看到價格逐月下降，我們預計這些價格將穩定並穩定需求，正如開場白中所提到的。因此，我們預計利潤率將正常化。

We also are bringing online a new advanced metal recovery plant, our Bushnell facility in Florida, and we've incurred some additional start-up costs related to commissioning that facility. We'll work through those costs early in Q2, and you'll see our -- that'll contribute to more normalized margins in the recycling as well.

我們也正在啟用一個新的先進金屬回收工廠，即我們位於佛羅裡達州的布希內爾工廠，我們已經產生了一些與調試工廠相關的額外啟動成本。我們將在第二季初解決這些成本，你會看到我們的——這也將有助於提高回收利潤率。

You mentioned DRI as well. I just want to make sure I provide some additional context there. We executed 2 extended outages in DRI in Q3 going into Q4. So we're back to running higher rates, higher volumes of DRI now that these plants are back performing consistently. And that's been advantageous to us through Q1 and will continue to be in Q2 as you see us running high rates of DRI in (inaudible). So we're able to not participate in higher-cost pig iron market and run higher rates of DRI. So our DRI plants are back to performing at the levels that we saw before the outages.

您也提到了 DRI。我只是想確保我在那裡提供了一些額外的背景資訊。從第三季度到第四季度，我們在 DRI 中執行了 2 次長時間停機。因此，既然這些工廠已恢復穩定運行，我們將恢復運行更高速率、更高產量的直接還原鐵 (DRI)。這在第一季對我們來說是有利的，並且在第二季度將繼續如此，因為您會看到我們在（聽不清楚）中運行高比率的 DRI。因此我們能夠不參與成本較高的生鐵市場並運行更高的 DRI 率。因此，我們的 DRI 工廠已恢復到停電前的運作水準。

The -- you're adding the advanced and recycling separation technology to one facility right now. Can you frame up the cost impact as to what it was in 1Q for the start-up costs there and what you might anticipate in 2Q?

您現在正在將先進的回收分離技術添加到一個設施中。您能否概括一下第一季的啟動成本對成本的影響以及您對第二季的預期？

Yes. It was about $9 million additional in Q1. It'll be minimal in Q2. We're nearly fully commissioned. It is a stand-alone facility at Bushnell that allows us to recover higher rates of copper and aluminum. So it's not an add-on for one of our existing processes.

是的。第一季增加了約 900 萬美元。第二季這將是最小的。我們幾乎已經完全投入使用。這是布希內爾的一個獨立設施，使我們能夠以更高的速度回收銅和鋁。因此，它不是我們現有流程之一的附加元件。

How many more of those do you have planned over the course of the year, if any?

您在這一年中還規劃了多少這樣的活動（如果有的話）？

Nothing else this year. We're going to continue to learn from this process. It's really state-of-the-art technology. We're going to take this and learn from the additional recovery we'll realize from this process and build out across the rest of our recycling platform and take this technology more broad.

今年沒什麼別的事了。我們將繼續從這個過程中學習。這確實是最先進的技術。我們將以此為基礎，從這一過程中實現的額外回收中學習，並在我們的回收平台的其餘部分中進行構建，並將這項技術推廣到更廣泛的領域。

And the crux of that is that allows you some increased optionality, what you would charge with prime or substitutes at that facility to switch to some degree to an upgraded trend product, right?

關鍵在於，這可以讓您增加一些選擇，您會在該設施中對主要產品或替代品收取多少費用，以在某種程度上切換到升級的趨勢產品，對嗎？

Yes. That's a different process. This is really for nonferrous material. So if you think about upgrading obsolete scrap or shredded scrap, we're doing that at one of our facilities now in Berkeley. We're producing about 2,500 tons per shift. And really, that is an offset of a replacement for prime scrap or pig iron in our process. So we've got that fully at scale now, and we'll continue to expand that capability to our other mills as well.

是的。那是一個不同的過程。這確實適用於有色金屬材料。因此，如果您考慮升級過時的廢料或切碎的廢料，我們現在正在伯克利的一座工廠進行這項工作。我們每班生產約 2,500 噸。實際上，這是我們工藝中對優質廢鋼或生鐵的替代品的補償。因此，我們現在已經完全實現了這一規模，並且我們將繼續將這種能力擴展到我們的其他工廠。

And your next question comes from the line of Curt Woodworth from UBS.

您的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Curt Woodworth。

Yes. I was just hoping to drill down a little bit more into the downstream product categories. Last quarter, you talked about joist and deck quarter entry was up pretty substantially to start the year, yet we're still seeing pretty materially negative volume trends. So I'm just curious, did anything maybe changed in the quarter? Did that kind of proceed as you expected?

是的。我只是希望能更深入地了解下游產品類別。上個季度，您談到了托樑和甲板季度進入量在年初大幅上升，但我們仍然看到數量大幅下降的趨勢。所以我很好奇，這個季度有什麼變化嗎？事情的進展是否如你所料？

And then you commented that you do expect to see price stabilization in the back half of the year. But can you comment on maybe where margins stand today versus historical? I think historically, joist and deck fab was around 10% to 15% operating margin. I know it's much higher than that now. And then you also talked about joist and deck accounting for the majority of that division. Could you frame that out any more so we can have a better understanding of the EBIT contribution?

然後您評論說，您確實預計下半年價格會穩定。但您能否評論一下今天的利潤率與歷史水平相比如何？我認為從歷史上看，托樑和甲板工廠的營業利潤率約為 10% 至 15%。我知道它比現在高得多。然後您還談到了佔該部門大部分的托樑和甲板。您能否再詳細說明一下，以便我們更了解息稅前利潤的貢獻？

Yes. Curt, I'll kick us off, and then I'll turn it over to Brad and, let me see, if there's any comments he'd like to make on the specifics in terms of margins.

是的。簡短地說，我會把我們踢掉，然後我會把它交給布拉德，讓我看看，他是否想對利潤方面的具體細節發表任何評論。

Look, our downstream products group, in general, has performed incredibly well over the last several years. And I'm not looking at the data in front of me, but we had a run of 10 or 11 quarters where that group generated $1 billion in net earnings or better. Their performance over the last several years has been nothing short of incredible. And so incredibly proud of what the team has been able to do, how they've come together to provide solutions, not just individual products, but taking care of our customers with the breadth of Nucor's strength coming together and, again, meeting the differentiated capability set in serving that market in a very different way. .

總體而言，我們的下游產品集團在過去幾年中表現得非常好。我沒有看眼前的數據，但我們有 10 或 11 個季度的業績，該集團創造了 10 億美元或更好的淨利潤。他們在過去幾年的表現簡直令人難以置信。我們對團隊所取得的成就感到無比自豪，他們如何齊心協力提供解決方案，而不僅僅是單一產品，而是利用紐柯公司的廣泛力量來照顧我們的客戶，並再次滿足差異化的需求以一種非常不同的方式服務該市場的能力。 。

Again, I use the word moderating. We're seeing pricing moderating. But again, I'll let Brad speak to a little bit more to some of the details, what he's seen, what we're envisioning as we move forward in the year then go from there. Brad?

我再次使用「調節」這個詞。我們看到定價放緩。但同樣，我會讓布拉德多談談一些細節，他所看到的，我們在今年向前邁進時的設想，然後從那裡開始。布拉德？

Yes. Thanks, Leon. Thanks for the question. As you know, we produce many different downstream products, and this breadth of product offering continues to be a significant differentiator for us as we bring multiproduct solutions to our customers, specifically some areas of strength we're seeing right now in nonres, advanced manufacturing, data centers, institutional projects in healthcare and education.

是的。謝謝，萊昂。謝謝你的提問。如您所知，我們生產許多不同的下游產品，這種產品供應的廣度仍然是我們的一個顯著差異化因素，因為我們為客戶提供多產品解決方案，特別是我們目前在非資源、先進製造領域看到的一些優勢領域、資料中心、醫療保健和教育機構計畫。

As Steve noted, quarter 1 started out a bit slow for us on the product side, driven mainly by some extreme weather and associated job site delays. That said, and in light of current interest rate environment, we remain very optimistic about the resiliency in nonres construction.

正如史蒂夫指出的那樣，第一季我們在產品方面的開局有點緩慢，這主要是由於一些極端天氣和相關的工作現場延誤造成的。儘管如此，鑑於當前的利率環境，我們對非再生能源建設的彈性仍然非常樂觀。

On the joist and deck side specifically, again, started the year relatively slow, but we've seen quote and booking activity accelerate pretty rapidly over the last 45 days, with March industry bookings far outpacing what we saw in January and February, couple that with backlogs that remained strong. We still sit at about 25% above pre-pandemic levels, and we expect improved volumes as we noted in Q2.

特別是在托樑和甲板方面，年初的速度再次相對緩慢，但我們看到報價和預訂活動在過去45 天內迅速加速，3 月份的行業預訂量遠遠超過我們1 月和2 月看到的情況，再加上積壓依然強勁。我們仍比大流行前的水平高出約 25%，並且我們預計數量會有所改善，正如我們在第二季度指出的那樣。

On the pricing side, again, we've seen market price stabilize, remaining pretty consistent now for the last 2 quarters at levels far higher than historical norms, which we believe better reflect the value of the products and the solutions that we're bringing to the market.

在定價方面，我們再次看到市場價格穩定，在過去兩個季度中保持相當穩定，遠高於歷史正常水平，我們相信這更好地反映了我們帶來的產品和解決方案的價值去市場。

As I think about the balance of this year and the megatrends we've been discussing, we're very optimistic. Product breadth and solutions-focused approach means we're well positioned to take advantage of these megatrends.

當我思考今年的平衡和我們一直在討論的大趨勢時，我們非常樂觀。產品廣度和以解決方案為中心的方法意味著我們能夠充分利用這些大趨勢。

Like Leon said, I'm extremely proud of how our downstream products teams are executing, working together to take care of customers and continuing to drive the step change in earnings that we're generating.

正如萊昂所說，我對我們的下游產品團隊的執行方式感到非常自豪，他們共同努力照顧客戶，並繼續推動我們產生的收入發生重大變化。

Yes. And Curt, I'll just add on to what Brad and Leon has said. This is Steve. And Leon talked about the profitability in a fundamentally different position. Our segment profits were over $0.5 billion from that segment this quarter. And if you go back pre pandemic, we averaged, call it, $450 million in EBITDA from that segment for a year. So we are fundamentally positioned different as a company today than we have been in the past. So when you reference this moderation, it has to be taken in a broader context of those along with demand trends that Brad referenced that are pretty good.

是的。科特，我將補充布萊德和萊昂所說的內容。這是史蒂夫。萊昂以完全不同的立場談論了盈利能力。本季我們該部門的利潤超過 5 億美元。如果你回到大流行前，我們平均稱，該細分市場一年的 EBITDA 為 4.5 億美元。因此，我們今天作為一家公司的定位與過去根本不同。因此，當您提到這種適度性時，您必須在更廣泛的背景下考慮布拉德提到的非常好的需求趨勢。

We're not going to get into the profitability of particular products within that segment. We've not done that. But what I will point you to, to give you a little bit of an orientation, again, Brad referenced that we have a very diverse set of downstream businesses, and 20% to 25% of our volume is from the joist and deck business, and roughly 20% to 25% is going to be pipe and tube and about 20% to 25% is rebar fabrication. So I hope that gives you a good mix of the products set in that segment.

我們不會討論該細分市場中特定產品的獲利能力。我們還沒有這樣做。但我要向您指出的是，為了給您一點指導，布拉德再次提到我們擁有非常多樣化的下游業務，我們的銷量的 20% 到 25% 來自托樑和甲板業務，大約20% 到25% 是管道和管材，大約20% 到25% 是鋼筋製造。因此，我希望這能為您提供該細分市場中產品的良好組合。

No, that's helpful. And then as a follow-up, can you kind of comment on how you see infrastructure spending evolving this year? I mean, it seems looking at kind of the bar and plate volumes, there's still somewhat static demand trends going on there. And then can you give us an update on how the Brandenburg plate mill is doing and if you still expect the similar level of volumes you were guiding to last quarter?

不，這很有幫助。作為後續行動，您能否評論一下您如何看待今年基礎設施支出的變化？我的意思是，從金條和板材的數量來看，那裡仍然存在一些靜態的需求趨勢。然後，您能否向我們介紹勃蘭登堡板材廠的最新情況，以及您是否仍期望上季度指導的類似產量水準？

I'll kick us off. And John, if I miss anything on the bar side that you want to comment on, please jump in, and then, Al, maybe touch on Brandenburg's ramp.

我會把我們一腳踢開。約翰，如果我錯過了酒吧一側您想發表評論的任何內容，請跳進來，然後，阿爾，也許可以觸摸一下勃蘭登堡的坡道。

Curt, I'll just start with the 3 pieces of legislation and the great news that we've been talking about for way too long were passed, right? The money is there. It's in the books. Obviously, the furthest along in the 3 of those pieces of legislation are the CHIPS Act. We've got 83 new semiconductor products that have been announced, worth an estimated roughly $350 billion worth of CapEx that'll be built out in the coming years. To date, 23 of those have broken ground and begun construction. So that's real. Those orders are coming. We're seeing that and flowing through into our different product groups.

柯特，我先從三項立法開始，我們已經討論了太久的好消息已經通過了，對吧？錢就在那裡。這是書上的。顯然，這三項立法中進展最遠的是《CHIPS 法案》。我們已經發布了 83 種新的半導體產品，預計未來幾年的資本支出將達到 3500 億美元。迄今為止，其中 23 個已破土動工並開始建設。所以這是真的。這些訂單即將到來。我們正在看到這一點，並滲透到我們不同的產品組。

If we look at IRA next, that's sort of the next most advanced, behind the CHIPS Act where -- again, when we look at renewables, particularly solar for tubes, we're seeing those orders again hit our books, being produced, being shipped and moving.

如果我們接下來看看IRA，那就是《CHIPS 法案》之後的下一個最先進的項目——同樣，當我們研究可再生能源，特別是太陽能管時，我們會看到這些訂單再次出現在我們的帳簿上，正在生產、正在生產。

And then last and probably the most lagging in that is IIJA or infrastructure that, again, [fund through there] federally, got to flow through the states and then execute on the individual projects and highways, bridges and the like. That's still in the very, very early innings.

最後，也許是最滯後的，是 IIJA 或基礎設施，同樣，聯邦政府[通過那裡提供資金]，流經各州，然後在各個項目、高速公路、橋樑等上執行。這還處於非常非常早的幾局。

And we're expecting in the years to come, next 2, 3, 4,or 5, we'll see all 3 of those continue to ramp. We still estimate that the total between the 3 is somewhere between 5 million and 8 million tons annually over the next 4 or 5 years that, again, will have a positive impact. The thing that -- as you look to Nucor and our strategy or growth play, where we're going, focusing, some of the megatrends are showing more than double-digit growth for the next 5 years like data centers, like towers and structures that we're in, that we're incredibly excited about, that we also think is going to be an incredible tailwind. And most of our group, not the least of which bar plate, sheet beams and products, will play a significant role.

我們預計在未來的 2 年、3 年、4 年或 5 年中，我們將看到所有這 3 個領域都將繼續成長。我們仍然估計，在未來 4 到 5 年內，這 3 者之間的總量每年將在 500 萬噸至 800 萬噸之間，這將再次產生積極影響。當你關注紐柯鋼鐵公司和我們的策略或成長策略時，我們將重點關注的方向是，一些大趨勢將在未來 5 年內呈現兩位數以上的成長，例如資料中心、塔樓和建築物我們正處於其中，我們對此感到非常興奮，我們也認為這將成為令人難以置信的順風車。我們集團的大部分產品，尤其是棒材、板樑和產品，將發揮重要作用。

Anything you'd like to add, John, on that?

約翰，對此您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. Yes, Leon. I would add, we're certainly, as Leon noted, seeing a slowdown, or not a slowdown, but a delay in the infrastructure spending. But as we look at building out commissioning our mills in Lexington, North Carolina and Kingston (sic) [Kingman], Arizona, we're going to be well positioned to take advantage of these dollars as they start to flow through. So we're optimistic about the long-term demand on long products and feel good about where we're going there.

是的。是的，萊昂。我想補充一點，正如萊昂指出的那樣，我們肯定會看到基礎設施支出放緩，或者不是放緩，而是延遲。但是，當我們考慮在北卡羅來納州列剋星敦和亞利桑那州金斯頓（原文如此）[金曼]建設並調試我們的工廠時，我們將處於有利位置，可以在這些美元開始流動時利用它們。因此，我們對長材產品的長期需求持樂觀態度，並對我們的發展方向感到滿意。

Yes. Curt, this is Al Behr. I'll just comment quickly on your question about Brandenburg.

是的。簡短地說，這是艾爾·貝赫爾。我將快速評論您有關勃蘭登堡的問題。

The Brandenburg ramp-up continues to go according to plan for this year that we talked about on the last fall, which is about 0.5 million tons for the year. Our volume in Q1 was about 50,000 tons. Obviously, it's going to be heavily weighted to the second half, but I'd expect to double that tonnage in Q2 and double that again in Q3 and Q4.

勃蘭登堡產能繼續按照我們去年秋天談到的今年計畫進行，全年產量約 50 萬噸。我們第一季的產量約為5萬噸。顯然，下半年的比重將會很大，但我預計第二季的噸位會增加一倍，第三季和第四季也會再增加一倍。

So it continues to be a capability story. We shipped our first head plate for a tank railcar customer, so that's something new for us. We weren't able to take care of those customers before. It's a new capability. So we continue to tick off these new firsts for Nucor on how we can take care of our customers due to the capability Brandenburg gives us, and the volume will come with it in the second half.

所以這仍然是一個能力故事。我們為坦克軌道車客戶運送了第一塊頭板，所以這對我們來說是新事物。以前我們無法照顧到這些客戶。這是一項新功能。因此，由於勃蘭登堡賦予我們的能力，我們將繼續為紐柯公司創造這些新的第一，即我們如何能夠照顧我們的客戶，並且產量將在下半年實現。

And your next question comes from Tristan Gresser from BNP Paribas.

您的下一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行的 Tristan Gresser。

Maybe to start with a quick follow-up on the downstream outlook. With what you said about joist and deck and prices normalizing and the volume direction, is that fair to say that Q2 will mark the trough for the divisions?

也許首先要快速跟進下游前景。根據您所說的托樑和甲板以及價格正常化和銷售方向，可以公平地說第二季將標誌著各部門的低谷嗎？

And when we look at the H2 outlook, given the visibility you have with certain of your products, is it fair that we have more of a stable kind of environment from an earning perspective, but nothing yet to be more optimistic or positive in terms of earning momentum there?

當我們審視下半年的前景時，考慮到您對某些產品的知名度，從盈利角度來看，我們擁有更穩定的環境，但在賺錢的動力還有嗎？

Tristan, I want to make sure I understood the question. Is it really framing to how the moderation is going to flow through to quarter-to-quarter earnings?

特里斯坦，我想確保我理解這個問題。這是否真的決定了這種放緩將如何影響季度至季度的收益？

Yes, pretty much. And given -- if you have some visibility on certain of your products that are really big for the division, like joist and deck, and you're saying prices have stabilized, it looked to me that you have all the elements to say that Q2 would potentially mark the trough for the division. And then given the visibility you have, I'm just trying to understand if we're looking at more of a stable outlook in the second half of the year for the division, the steel product division. Or if given the positive commentary you mentioned on joist and deck, could we see even, I don't know, an uptick in prices, an uptick in margins and be a bit more positive on the earning direction for H2?

是的，差不多。鑑於 - 如果你對某些對該部門來說非常重要的產品有一定的知名度，例如托樑和甲板，並且你說價格已經穩定，那麼在我看來，你擁有所有的要素來說明第二季度可能標誌著該部門的低谷。然後考慮到您所擁有的可見性，我只是想了解我們是否會在今年下半年看到鋼鐵產品部門的前景更加穩定。或者，如果考慮到您提到的關於托樑和甲板的積極評論，我們是否可以看到，我不知道，價格上漲，利潤率上升，並對下半年的盈利方向更加積極？

Yes. Thanks, Tristan. This is Steve. I'll field this, and Brad can clean up any misses for that gap. .

是的。謝謝，特里斯坦。這是史蒂夫。我會處理這個，布拉德可以彌補這個差距的任何失誤。 。

But yes, we -- particularly with joist and deck, given the lead times and backlogs that we get out there that are pretty healthy, we've seen very good price stability, relative price stability over the last, call it, quarter or so. That does lead you to have more confidence in what the back half of the year might look like. I've been around too long to say that we're going to call a trough at this point. There's too much variability in our business model overall but certainly, for joist and deck, that's a very, very positive trend in terms of stabilization.

但是，是的，我們——特別是托樑和甲板，考慮到我們的交貨時間和積壓情況非常健康，我們看到了非常好的價格穩定性，過去的相對價格穩定性，稱之為季度左右。這確實會讓你對下半年的情況更有信心。我已經存在太久了，無法說我們現在將稱之為低谷。總體而言，我們的業務模式存在太多變化，但對於托樑和甲板來說，就穩定性而言，這是一個非常非常積極的趨勢。

And just sort of like Curt's questions earlier around the diversity of the downstream products segment, there's other parts of that part of our portfolio that don't have that much linked to their backlogs and lead times. So that's why I'd be a little hesitant to say that second quarter will be trough. But I would characterize your question as affirming the relative positive position of joist and deck.

就像柯特之前關於下游產品細分市場多樣性的問題一樣，我們產品組合中的其他部分與積壓訂單和交貨時間沒有太大聯繫。所以這就是為什麼我有點猶豫是否說第二季會是低谷。但我將你的問題描述為肯定托樑和甲板的相對積極地位。

Yes. Steve, the only thing I would add is from a volume perspective, nonres construction is somewhat seasonal. So Q1 tends to be a bit lower volumes on the products side. Q2 and Q3 are usually more robust, and that's what we're seeing right now.

是的。史蒂夫，我唯一要補充的是，從數量的角度來看，非資源建設有些季節性。因此，第一季產品銷售量往往會下降。第二季和第三季通常更加穩健，這就是我們現在所看到的。

All right. That's really helpful. And you discussed a little bit data center and your recent acquisition. Am I right to understand that when you talk about the complementarity of certain downstream products, that those data centers will use joist and deck and other products? And if you could maybe give us a sense, quantified sense of how big this could be as a driver right now and maybe in the future.

好的。這真的很有幫助。您討論了一些資料中心和您最近的收購。我的理解是否正確，當您談到某些下游產品的互補性時，那些資料中心將使用托樑和甲板等產品？如果你能給我們一種感覺，量化的感覺，作為現在和未來的驅動力有多大。

Yes. I'll kick this off, and maybe ask Chad Utermark who's overall for M&A and then new businesses that we acquire, Tristan.

是的。我將開始這個話題，也許會問查德·烏特馬克（Chad Utermark），誰負責併購以及我們收購的新業務，特里斯坦（Tristan）。

But we're really excited about the opportunity that the long-term projections are. Boston Consulting Group is projecting about 12% to 14% year-over-year growth in data center construction over the next 4 or 5 years. Couple that with -- again, just a little bit of a pivot here, couple that with the demand of power that many of these large hyperscalers need, you're talking hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of megawatts.

但我們對長期預測帶來的機會感到非常興奮。波士頓顧問集團預計未來 4 到 5 年資料中心建設將年增約 12% 至 14%。再一次，這裡只是一點點，再加上許多大型超大規模企業所需的電力需求，你所說的是數百兆瓦。

So the infrastructure build-out require -- and the energy requirements are prompting a few things. One, we're going to continue to grow in this space. Two, under Chad's leadership as we make these acquisitions, and I shared earlier in my opening comments, we now have a data center group that will provide holistic solutions to our hyperscalers and other major data center builders. And so again, these are long-term, long-established relationships that we have in the marketplace, and again, you're going to see Nucor continue to move forward.

因此，基礎設施建設需要—而能源需求正在引發一些事情。第一，我們將繼續在這個領域發展。第二，在乍得的領導下，我們進行這些收購，我在開場白中分享了這一點，我們現在擁有一個數據中心團隊，將為我們的超大規模企業和其他主要數據中心建設者提供整體解決方案。同樣，這些都是我們在市場上建立的長期、長期的關係，而且，您將再次看到紐柯公司繼續前進。

Many of the questions we often get on these earnings calls are, what are you going to do with the money? What are you going to do with the cash you're generating or sitting on? And again, we returned over 130% of that back to shareholders in Q1.

我們在這些財報電話會議上經常收到的許多問題是，你打算用這筆錢做什麼？您將如何處理您所產生或坐擁的現金？再次，我們在第一季將其中 130% 以上回饋給股東。

But our focus, without getting too far, is going to be in the megatrends in this economy that we see are going to continue to generate incredibly strong and robust growth and returns for our shareholders, data centers being one of them. Southwest makes the sort of pathways for cool air to come in and hot air to get out. In terms of that data center, the 147 team members that we look forward to welcoming into the new family and -- or into the Nucor family.

但我們的重點不會太遠，而是專注於當前經濟的大趨勢，我們認為這些趨勢將繼續為我們的股東帶來令人難以置信的強勁成長和回報，而資料中心就是其中之一。西南航空提供了冷空氣進入和熱空氣排出的通道。就該資料中心而言，我們期待歡迎 147 位團隊成員加入新家族，或加入紐柯家族。

But Chad, any other details that you'd share in the market in general and Southwest?

但是乍得，您能分享一下整個市場和西南航空的其他細節嗎？

Thank you, Leon. Let me start by saying, we've been in this data center space for a while. Our Nucor Buildings Group, along with our joist and deck and our beam products, have supplied a lot of building structures for this space. They will continue to do that. They have great relationships with a lot of the hyperscalers and colocators.

謝謝你，萊昂。首先我要說的是，我們進入這個資料中心領域已經有一段時間了。我們的紐柯建築集團以及我們的托樑、甲板和梁產品，為這個空間提供了大量的建築結構。他們將繼續這樣做。他們與許多超大規模提供者和託管商有著良好的關係。

We actually entered what I kind of call the racking or inside the data center, think of maybe the furniture in there about a year ago through our racking division. And in '23, we saw some tremendous growth there. And then we were able to acquire SWDP 3 weeks ago, as Leon mentioned. And these 147 team members, I mean, they're right down in the middle of the data center explosion. This acquisition is going to give us new capabilities to serve this growing market. And it's kind of hard to put a dollar figure on how big the inside of the data center, this furniture space that we're playing in is, but we estimate it to be probably north of $2 billion and growing, as Leon mentioned, double digits. So we really feel like it's going to bolster Nucor's opportunity to be a preferred supplier to many of the nation's hyperscalers, the key colocators, who are front and center on the data center buildout.

我們實際上進入了我所說的機架或資料中心內部，想想大約一年前透過我們的機架部門那裡的家具。 23 年，我們看到了巨大的成長。正如 Leon 所提到的，三週前我們就獲得了 SWDP。我的意思是，這 147 名團隊成員正處於資料中心爆炸的中心。此次收購將為我們提供新的能力來服務這個不斷成長的市場。很難用美元來衡量資料中心內部的規模，我們正在玩的這個家具空間有多大，但我們估計它可能超過 20 億美元，正如 Leon 提到的那樣，還在增長一倍數字。因此，我們確實認為這將增強紐柯公司成為美國許多超大規模企業（關鍵主機託管商）的首選供應商的機會，這些企業是資料中心建設的前沿和中心。

Kind of as a note, SWDP also installs their products, which we're really excited to be a part of that and bring those assets into Nucor and possibly even install other products that we make, sprinkler piping and other things that we produce. So we're excited about the space. We're excited about the products we have. We're excited about the relationships we have with the key players. We already have those relationships. But the phones are already ringing, and we're looking at really growing significantly in this space.

需要說明的是，SWDP 也安裝他們的產品，我們很高興能成為其中的一部分，並將這些資產帶入紐柯鋼鐵公司，甚至可能安裝我們製造的其他產品、噴淋管道和我們生產的其他產品。所以我們對這個空間感到興奮。我們對我們擁有的產品感到興奮。我們對與主要參與者的關係感到興奮。我們已經有了這些關係。但電話已經響起，我們正在考慮在這個領域真正顯著成長。

All right, that's very clear. And maybe a final question on Econiq. Do you have any volume target? Or can you disclose a little bit on the volume how much you're selling or you target to sell in coming years? And if I look at the carbon intensity at which you're selling, if you were to sell that product in Europe, you probably get a premium, a selling premium of EUR 150, EUR 200 per ton. So it can be pretty significant. The U.S. market is obviously much different. But I was wondering if you could share, as some other peers have done, the type of premiums you're looking at for this tonnage.

好吧，這很清楚。也許還有一個關於 Econiq 的最後一個問題。您有銷售目標嗎？或者您能否透露一下您的銷售量或未來幾年的銷售目標？如果我看看你所銷售的碳強度，如果你要在歐洲銷售該產品，你可能會獲得溢價，每噸銷售溢價為 150 歐元、200 歐元。所以這可能非常重要。美國市場顯然有很大不同。但我想知道您是否可以像其他一些同行一樣分享您對該噸位的溢價類型。

Yes. Tristan, again, Nucor is excited about our work that we've done. And regarding the entire sustainability front, again, while other nations are looking to revamping their entire portfolio and spend tens of billions of dollars to try and someday, 20, 30, 40 years down the road look like Nucor, we're not standing still. We're able to take the billions and billions that we're making today and continue to grow in places like data centers and racking and the investments in towers and structures and automotive and construction and providing solutions and capabilities for our customers for decades to come.

是的。特里斯坦，紐柯公司再次對我們所做的工作感到興奮。至於整個永續發展方面，雖然其他國家正在尋求改造其整個投資組合併花費數百億美元進行嘗試，但有一天，20、30、40年後的情況會像紐柯鋼鐵公司一樣，但我們並沒有停滯不前。我們能夠利用今天賺到的數十億美元，繼續在資料中心和機架等領域發展，以及對塔樓和結構、汽車和建築的投資，並在未來幾十年為我們的客戶提供解決方案和能力。

But when it comes to sustainability, it really becomes a very nuanced answer to your question. For example, the Mercedes-Benz relationship we just announced was very important to them that we looked hard at our Scope 2 emissions, right, that the renewable energy incoming to Nucor and how we produce these steels was critically important. But make no mistake, Nucor was the first out of the gate, at scale, to provide 100% net-0 carbon-free steel, and we can do that at scale.

但當談到永續性時，它確實成為對你的問題的一個非常微妙的答案。例如，我們剛剛宣布的梅賽德斯-奔馳關係對他們來說非常重要，我們認真審視了我們的範圍 2 排放，對吧，進入紐柯的可再生能源以及我們如何生產這些鋼材至關重要。但毫無疑問，紐柯鋼鐵是第一個大規模提供 100% 淨零碳鋼的公司，我們可以大規模做到這一點。

A year ago, I think I used the figure that Nucor's capability in that realm was somewhere around the ability to ship at least 1 million tons. We can do more than that. But really, what we're trying to do is identify the solutions for our customers that need different things. So there are some customers, for example, that don't want us to use regs or offsets to be able to get to that net-0 target. Okay, well, our starting point already at 0.4 is hundreds of percentage points below the traditional or extractive steel-making process and our integrated competitors. So our starting point becomes incredibly low.

一年前，我想我使用的數字表明紐柯公司在該領域的能力大約有能力運送至少 100 萬噸。我們能做的還不只這些。但實際上，我們正​​在努力做的是為需要不同事物的客戶找到解決方案。例如，有些客戶不希望我們使用規則或偏移來實現 net-0 目標。好吧，我們的起點已經是 0.4，比傳統或精煉煉鋼工藝以及我們的綜合競爭對手低數百個百分點。所以我們的起點變得非常低。

And then when you look to regional differences, there are different regions across the U.S. that Nucor operate in that are able to lower that even further. And then certain steel mills, like Sedalia, that are operating at 0.09 or in that range. And so we have a unique opportunity, again with the breadth of Nucor across the geographic footprint, to really meet the needs today and long term.

然後，當你考慮地區差異時，紐柯公司在美國各地開展業務的不同地區能夠進一步降低這種差異。然後某些鋼廠（如 Sedalia）的運行壓力為 0.09 或該範圍。因此，我們擁有一個獨特的機會，再次憑藉紐柯公司在地理上的廣泛覆蓋範圍，真正滿足當今和長期的需求。

Lastly, and I'd just make the final comment, and Dan, anything you want to add or Greg, is it took Nucor -- we were very deliberate before we came out with our net-0 target. We didn't just jump out there in 2021, and there was a lot of pressure to do so. We did it when we believed there was a pathway in our control. We're not looking for government subsidies or handouts or technologies that would make the OpEx of steelmaking, quite frankly, unsellable. We're looking for the things that we can directly control and produce a true net-0 product.

最後，我只想做最後的評論，丹，你想補充的任何內容或格雷格，是否需要紐柯公司——在我們提出淨零目標之前，我們是經過深思熟慮的。我們並不是 2021 年跳出來的，這樣做的壓力很大。當我們相信有一條途徑在我們的掌控之中時，我們就這麼做了。坦白說，我們並不是在尋求政府補貼、施捨或技術來使煉鋼的營運支出變得賣不出去。我們正在尋找可以直接控制並生產真正的淨零產品的東西。

And again, we're excited about that. We're well on the way to that. You'll see continued improvement in our overall performance. But again, leaders lead, and we're going to be out front. We're going to stay there. We're going to continue to make the investments for the long term to position ourselves well for those customers that need and require Econiq steels.

我們對此再次感到興奮。我們正在朝著這個目標前進。您將看到我們整體績效的持續改善。但同樣，領導者帶頭，我們將走在前面。我們要留在那裡。我們將繼續進行長期投資，以便為那些需要 Econiq 鋼材的客戶做好準備。

And Tristan, this is Dan. What I would add to that is if you think about Econiq, we rolled that out a couple of years ago. It was about a net-0 product for Scopes 1 and 2. The market's evolved quite a bit since then. And what I would tell you, the sustainability is absolutely a personal journey for a lot of these companies. And so we've evolved as the market has, and we're offering what the customers need. So we're very flexible. As we just announced the Mercedes, that was an Econiq-RE product around Scope 2 because that's what the customer has desired. So we're very flexible as we approach that.

特里斯坦，這是丹。我要補充的是，如果你想到 Econiq，我們幾年前就推出了它。這是關於範圍 1 和 2 的 net-0 產品。我要告訴你的是，對許多這樣的公司來說，永續發展絕對是個人的旅程。因此，我們隨著市場的發展而發展，我們正在提供客戶所需的東西。所以我們非常靈活。正如我們剛剛發布的 Mercedes 一樣，這是一款圍繞範圍 2 的 Econiq-RE 產品，因為這正是客戶所期望的。所以我們在處理這個問題時非常靈活。

Your last question was around premiums. I'm not going to get into specifics around what that is. But there absolutely are premiums that we're achieving and realizing here in the U.S. And if you look at how that's shaping out in Europe, I'd say it's similar to what's happening in the United States.

您的最後一個問題是關於保費的。我不會詳細說明那是什麼。但我們在美國確實實現並實現了溢價。

And your next question comes from Timna Tanners from Wolfe Research.

您的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Timna Tanners。

Was hoping for a little more color on the outlook because we're struggling a bit to get to the decline quarter-over-quarter. I think it has a bit to do with the fact that you pointed out, which is, seasonally, demand does improve usually in the second quarter for your key end markets. And so in light of that, maybe it would be helpful to discuss the corporate eliminations impact, if that's sticky into the second quarter of some of those in-process inventories to some of your projects, are going to remain elevated or how we can think about that, if you can help us a bit with that guidance.

我們希望前景能有更多的色彩，因為我們正在努力實現季度環比下降。我認為這與您指出的事實有一定關係，即從季節性角度來看，關鍵終端市場的需求通常會在第二季度有所改善。因此，有鑑於此，也許討論企業消除影響會有所幫助，如果這些影響持續到第二季​​度，某些在製品庫存對您的某些項目將保持較高水平，或者我們如何思考關於這一點，如果您可以在該指導上為我們提供一些幫助。

Okay. Timna, I'll kick us off and maybe ask Steve to jump in if I go too far into the accounting hole of corporate elims. But look, it is a good point because one of the incredible strengths of Nucor is our diversity. Our ability to provide a wide variety in a capability set for our customers is unmatched in North America.

好的。提姆納，如果我在公司財務問題上陷入了太深的泥潭，我會把我們踢開，也許還會請史蒂夫介入。但你看，這是一個很好的觀點，因為紐柯公司令人難以置信的優勢之一就是我們的多樣性。我們為客戶提供多種功能的能力在北美是無與倫比的。

Well, when you -- we, for the quarter, had $8 billion in revenue for the quarter. About $1.5 billion of that is internal. So it's shipping to hundreds of locations across Nucor. So the magnitude of our strength of having about 20% of our overall shipments go internal means that you tracking down the ebbs and flows of every potential property elim across hundreds of locations in 40 states, and it's an inexact science. And again, our team works really hard to try to do that. But to your point, it's not a miss in terms of well, you just missed it and it does come back. It will flow back through into Nucor in the weeks and months and maybe the next couple of quarters. So you're going to see that boost as they sell their products to their final end customers.

好吧，當我們這個季度的收入為 80 億美元時。其中約 15 億美元是內部資金。因此，它被運送到紐柯的數百個地點。因此，我們的實力之大，使我們的總出貨量中約有20% 進入內部，這意味著您需要追蹤40 個州數百個地點的每一個潛在房地產的潮起潮落，這是一門不精確的科學。再說一次，我們的團隊非常努力地嘗試做到這一點。但就你而言，這並不是一次錯過，你只是錯過了它，它確實回來了。它將在幾週和幾個月甚至接下來的幾個季度內回流到紐柯鋼鐵公司。因此，當他們將產品銷售給最終客戶時，你會看到這種成長。

So look, I get your point in sort of -- I think the way you're asking it is would that not balanced out what we're seeing and getting a little more stable in our Q-over-Q performance. And again, against that backdrop, I would tell you, we still see the market softening a little bit into Q2. But again, you're optimistic back half of the year sort of stabilizes. And again, I think Steve answered it well. I don't want to call Q2 the trough and the low point at this point. However, we do see strengthening, and we do think the back half of the year and, really, the overall year for Nucor is going to be pretty strong.

所以，我明白你的觀點——我認為你問的方式會不會平衡我們所看到的情況，並讓我們的季度表現變得更加穩定。再次，在這種背景下，我想告訴你，我們仍然看到市場在第二季略有疲軟。但同樣，您對今年下半年會趨於穩定持樂觀態度。再說一次，我認為史蒂夫回答得很好。我現在不想將第二季稱為谷底和低點。然而，我們確實看到了加強，我們確實認為今年下半年，實際上，紐柯公司的整體業績將相當強勁。

Steve, anything you'd add?

史蒂夫，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. Timna, this is Steve. The only thing I would add to what Leon said is, and you're very knowledgeable of the innings of our business and know how our products flow through the different businesses we have. And we do see volume pickups in both steel and products. And so you should reasonably expect that the corporate elims might look different for the second quarter than they did in the first quarter.

是的。提姆納，這是史蒂夫。我對萊昂所說的唯一要補充的是，您非常了解我們業務的各個環節，並且知道我們的產品如何在我們擁有的不同業務中流動。我們確實看到鋼鐵和產品的銷量增加。因此，您應該合理地預期第二季的企業財務報表可能會與第一季有所不同。

Having said that, the pricing pressure on both mills and products are expected to give us a little bit lower results in the second quarter. So I think your question was a correct characterization of some of those pluses and minuses as we look at Q2.

話雖如此，工廠和產品的定價壓力預計將使我們第二季的業績略有下降。因此，我認為您的問題是對我們在第二季度研究時的一些優點和缺點的正確描述。

Okay. Yes, that's helpful. I just -- and if there's any way to break out any more corporate eliminations guidance or color going forward. It's just a bit tricky, as you mentioned. I know it's for you. It's tricky for us.

好的。是的，這很有幫助。我只是 - 以及是否有任何方法可以打破未來更多的企業消除指導或顏色。正如您所提到的，這有點棘手。我知道這是給你的。這對我們來說很棘手。

So my second question is on the buyback cadence because obviously, first quarter was a pretty big amount. And as you pointed out, you have a huge amount on your balance sheet, which you could dig into. But how do we think about that cadence going forward? How do you make those decisions? Or what could that look like, given that you have the spare capacity but you hadn't chosen to deploy it as aggressively until this quarter?

所以我的第二個問題是關於回購節奏，因為顯然第一季的回購金額相當大。正如您所指出的，您的資產負債表上有大量資金可供您深入研究。但我們要如何看待未來的節奏呢？你如何做出這些決定？或者，考慮到您有閒置產能，但直到本季才選擇積極部署它，情況會是什麼樣子？

Yes. Timna, this is Steve again. I think what you -- the first quarter is really an excellent piece of evidence of how Nucor thinks about managing its balance sheet. And that's over, number one, it's very long-term perspective that we take. And number two, it's a rigor and a discipline around we put our capital to use or if we can't find the right uses for it to create value, we give it back to shareholders. And that's something we've done for years and years and that was obviously (inaudible) in the first quarter.

是的。提姆納，這又是史蒂夫。我認為第一季確實是紐柯公司如何考慮管理其資產負債表的絕佳證據。一切都結束了，第一，我們採取的是非常長遠的觀點。第二，我們對資本的使用有嚴格的要求和紀律，如果我們找不到資本的正確用途來創造價值，我們就會將其回饋給股東。這是我們多年來一直在做的事情，顯然（聽不清楚）是在第一季。

One of the reasons we get the fair amount of liquidity at the end of the year last year was because of potential M&A pipeline activity. And we felt comfortable releasing that capital, if you want to call it that, in the first quarter at a higher rate than we normally do. We still sit with an excellent balance sheet, great leverage position, good liquidity, an active M&A pipeline, continued commitment to growth. And so we're striking that balance. It looks maybe a little bit choppy because of the amount of dollars quarter-over-quarter from the fourth quarter, but we were blacked out parts of the fourth quarter from some of the share buybacks. So that's part of why you're seeing the change if you're thinking about quarter-over-quarter numbers.

去年年底我們獲得相當數量的流動性的原因之一是潛在的併購活動。我們很樂意在第一季以比平常更高的速度釋放這筆資金（如果你想這麼稱呼的話）。我們仍然擁有出色的資產負債表、良好的槓桿狀況、良好的流動性、活躍的併購管道以及對成長的持續承諾。所以我們正在尋求這種平衡。由於第四季度的季度環比金額，它看起來可能有點波動，但我們在第四季度的部分時間因一些股票回購而被取消。因此，如果您考慮季度環比數據，這就是您會看到變化的部分原因。

So as for M&A?

那麼併購呢？

Sorry, I was just going to say, look, to get a little more qualitative, if you asked in sort of roundabout way, Nucor's probably not going to sit on $5.5 billion, $6 billion of cash on a normal basis. We're thinking hard about that. There are some other activities in the M&A pipeline we're looking at that can't get any further than that to tell you. But again, you've watched our company long enough to know our return metrics, how we think about rewarding our shareholders and -- either through dividends and share repurchases. And you can expect that mindset and focus will continue well into the future.

抱歉，我只是想說，看，為了獲得更多的定性，如果你以某種迂迴的方式提問，紐柯公司可能不會在正常情況下坐擁 55 億美元、60 億美元的現金。我們正在認真思考這一點。我們正在關注的併購管道中還有一些其他活動，無法進一步告訴您。但同樣，您已經觀察我們公司足夠長的時間，了解我們的回報指標，我們如何考慮透過股利和股票回購來獎勵我們的股東。您可以預期，這種心態和關注將在未來持續下去。

And your next question comes from Bill Peterson from JPMorgan.

你的下一個問題來自摩根大通的比爾彼得森。

Yes. I wanted to kind of come back to the plate market. What are your views on the market, given elevated inventories, apparent consumption turning down for the last 12 months? And then I guess as we -- I guess, how do you think -- what are the key drivers that will unlock this market? And then especially taking into account you are ramping Brandenburg, it sounds like you're planning to double over the next few quarters. Just wanted to get your thoughts on the market as we look out over the next several quarters.

是的。我想回到板材市場。鑑於庫存增加、過去 12 個月表觀消費量下降，您對市場有何看法？然後我想，我們──我想，你覺得──打開這個市場的關鍵驅動因素是什麼？然後特別考慮到您正在擴大勃蘭登堡，聽起來您計劃在接下來的幾個季度內將業務量增加一倍。只是想在我們展望未來幾季時了解您對市場的看法。

Bill, this is Al Behr. As we look at the plate market, the consumptive part of the market remains pretty steady. When you look at power transmission as an area of strength. Bridge work is an area of strength. That's bridge work that's not necessarily related to the infrastructure build yet. I think that's coming. That will be coming, and John shared his comments around rebar to that effect. Military work remains strong and will probably tick up some. That's a low-volume work but it's very high-margin work. It's highly specialized plate, a lot of it is (inaudible) plate.

比爾，這是艾爾貝赫爾。從板材市場來看，市場的消費部分仍相當穩定。當您將電力傳輸視為一個力量領域時。橋樑工作是一個強項。這是橋樑工作，不一定與基礎建設有關。我想那即將到來。那將會到來，約翰分享了他對螺紋鋼的評論。軍事工作仍然強勁，並且可能會有所增加。這是一項低產量的工作，但利潤非常高。這是高度專業化的板塊，其中很多是（聽不清楚）板塊。

But there's still some weaker segments. Vertical construction or high-rise construction remains very, very weak. Barge is kind of an opportunistic market segment and there's just not a lot of activity there right now. If you look at heat, and Leon had comments around heat, that's starting to soften. It's coming down from high but it's really softened in the last 12 months.

但仍有一些薄弱環節。垂直建築或高層建築仍然非常非常薄弱。駁船是一個機會主義的細分市場，目前那裡的活動並不多。如果你看看熱度，萊昂對熱度有評論，那就開始軟化了。它正在從高位回落，但在過去 12 個月確實有所放緩。

So I mean, when we boil that down to the year, it looks probably similar to last year. It's just fairly steady on the consumptive side. And then what comes in and out as a service center is they buy according to what they feel is best for their business. So you do see a lot of restocking in Q1 this year. That's probably the biggest driver of our volumes being down. We saw a lot of that last year, and that drove volumes higher.

所以我的意思是，當我們將其歸結為年份時，它看起來可能與去年相似。消費方面相當穩定。然後，作為服務中心進出的東西，他們會根據他們認為最適合他們業務的東西進行購買。因此，今年第一季確實有大量補貨。這可能是我們銷量下降的最大驅動因素。去年我們看到了很多這樣的情況，這推動了銷量的成長。

When we look through the rest of the year -- and we think it remains fairly steady with maybe some sliding continuing in the second half just because election cycles. On the nonres construction side, it tend to create some stall (inaudible) as many decisions. Until the election happens and then regardless of the results, the outlook was not known -- as known as we move forward.

當我們回顧今年剩餘時間時，我們認為它仍然相當穩定，下半年可能會因為選舉週期而繼續下滑。在非資源建設方面，它往往會像許多決策一樣造成一些停滯（聽不清楚）。在選舉發生之前，無論結果如何，前景都是未知的——正如我們所知道的那樣，我們將繼續前進。

It's probably a bigger story on the margin side for plate anyway, that we continue to see squeeze on the margin side as we fight imports. Imports are a problem. They're higher, they're trending higher. And we continue to have some so-called trading partners that continue to abuse, countries I'm talking about, our agreements and our trade laws. And we'll continue to fight that commercially. And part of that is just having to compete in the marketplace, and it creates margin space. But we'll also compete with that in any other way we know, which is regulatory and making our trade officials and elected officials aware of it. And we've got to hold those countries to account to abide by the agreements that we make.

無論如何，這可能是中厚板利潤方面的一個更大的故事，在我們對抗進口的過程中，我們繼續看到利潤的擠壓。進口是個問題。它們更高，而且趨勢更高。我們仍然有一些所謂的貿易夥伴繼續濫用我所說的國家、我們的協議和貿易法。我們將繼續在商業上與之鬥爭。其中一部分就是必須在市場上競爭，這就創造了利潤空間。但我們也會以我們所知道的任何其他方式與之競爭，即監管，並使我們的貿易官員和民選官員意識到這一點。我們必須讓這些國家承擔責任，並遵守我們達成的協議。

So hopefully, that provides some color for you on the plate side. And that's all along the backdrop of Brandenburg ramping, and we went through that. But that's the way we look at the plate market and what our outlook is.

希望這能為您在盤子一側提供一些顏色。這就是勃蘭登堡崛起的背景，我們經歷了這一點。但這就是我們看待板材市場的方式以及我們的前景。

Yes. And then coming to the Customer Spot Index that you employed, I guess what were you looking to achieve? And how do you address concerns that this could potentially compete with indices? You commented that you're doing it for customers, but is this something customers have been asking for? Can you share any sort of feedback you've received thus far from customers? And I mean, I guess if we were to take it one step further, any expectations to expand this type of thing to other steel formats? Are customers asking for other products?

是的。然後談到您使用的客戶現貨指數，我猜您希望實現什麼目標？您如何解決這可能與指數競爭的擔憂？你說你是為顧客做的，但這是顧客一直要求的嗎？您能分享一下迄今為止從客戶那裡收到的任何回饋嗎？我的意思是，我想如果我們更進一步，是否希望將這種類型的產品擴展到其他鋼鐵格式？客戶是否需要其他產品？

Yes. So look, great question. I'll kick it off and Rex Query, who heads up our sheet group, if there's additional comments you'd like to make, please jump in. .

是的。所以看，很好的問題。我將首先由 Rex Query 開始，他是我們工作表組的負責人，如果您還有其他意見，請加入。

But look, we're excited. And you asked one great question, but within that, an important question, and that was were our customers asking for this. I would tell you, unequivocally, yes, they have been asking for this. And so I'm not going to name other indices. We're obviously aware of them all. Our goal was simply to provide a more consistent, reliable, predictable, and relevant price on our top band spots [cost] period, providing consistent and shorter lead time window for them and provide real-time pricing on a weekly basis that was relevant. And so our commitment to them is to maintain a relative price page each and every week. And so again, the part of that and the driver for that, yes, our customers were asking.

但看，我們很興奮。你問了一個很好的問題，但其中一個重要的問題是我們的客戶提出的要求。我會明確地告訴你，是的，他們一直在要求這樣做。所以我不會說出其他指數的名稱。我們顯然都知道它們。我們的目標只是在我們的頂級現貨[成本]期間提供更加一致、可靠、可預測和相關的價格，為他們提供一致和更短的交貨時間窗口，並每週提供相關的實時定價。因此，我們對他們的承諾是每週維護一個相對價格頁面。再說一次，這部分和驅動因素，是的，我們的客戶在問。

And also, the whipsaw that we see in ups and down markets to try and shrink that volatility to create more stabilization in the marketplace, again, giving them better information to make better value decisions for their business and get out of the price speculation that we see all too often in the hot-band market. So those really were the drivers.

此外，我們在上漲和下跌的市場中看到的洗盤，試圖縮小波動性，從而使市場更加穩定，再次為他們提供更好的信息，以便為他們的業務做出更好的價值決策，並擺脫我們認為的價格投機。所以那些確實是司機。

As we look at -- again, it's only been a few weeks. How this evolves and moves forward, we'll wait and see. We'll allow our customers the opportunity to decide that rather than us deciding that. They'll be the ones that provide the feedback to us that, yes, we love it. We like it. We want to use this. We think it's the right indice. And again, our job and our goal is to make that incredibly easy and transparent.

當我們再次回顧時，這才過去了幾週。這將如何演變和向前發展，我們將拭​​目以待。我們將讓我們的客戶有機會做出決定，而不是我們做出決定。他們將向我們提供反饋，是的，我們喜歡它。我們喜歡它。我們想用這個。我們認為這是正確的指數。再說一遍，我們的工作和目標是讓這一切變得異常簡單和透明。

Rex, anything you'd add to that?

雷克斯，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Bill, I'll only add a couple of comments. I mean, Leon covered it well.

比爾，我只會添加一些評論。我的意思是，萊昂很好地掩蓋了這一點。

Really, as we develop the CSP, we look at the cycles over the last several years, and it was very predictable. As pricing started to firm, we would see customers enter into speculative buying. They would pull ahead demand. Lead times would then extend. Pricing would generally go up beyond really supply-demand balances, inviting imports in. Inventories would balloon, and then we had to work that off. And you could see orders stop and pricing fall dramatically.

事實上，當我們開發 CSP 時，我們查看了過去幾年的周期，結果是非常可預測的。隨著價格開始堅挺，我們會看到客戶進入投機性購買。他們將拉動需求。交貨時間就會延長。定價通常會超出真正的供需平衡，從而吸引進口。您可能會看到訂單停止，價格急劇下降。

So as we look at that, we said, how can we create stability, potentially avoid speculative buying. And it's through us offering a current look at what we see spot pricing to our customers in the marketplace and maintaining our lead times so they can count on what's happened. And that's really what we looked at. And we've got positive feedback at this point from our customers, as Leon stated.

因此，當我們考慮這一點時，我們說，我們如何創造穩定，避免投機性購買。透過我們向市場上的客戶提供我們所看到的現貨定價的最新情況，並維持我們的交貨時間，以便他們可以信賴所發生的事情。這正是我們所看到的。正如萊昂所說，目前我們已經從客戶那裡得到了正面的回饋。

And that concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to hand over the call to Leon Topalian for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我想將會議轉交給萊昂·托帕利安 (Leon Topalian) 致閉幕詞。

In closing, I just want to thank our Nucor teammates for a great start to 2024. Let's continue to stay focused on our most important value, to help safety and well-being of each and every one of our 32,000 team members that make up the Nucor family. And thank you to our customers and shareholders for the trust that you placed us both in the order books and the orders that you give us as well as the valuable shareholder capital that you trust us with. We will work hard each and every day to earn your trust and your continued business.

最後，我只想感謝我們的紐柯團隊在 2024 年取得了良好的開端。感謝我們的客戶和股東對我們的信任，感謝你們在訂單簿和給我們的訂單中給予我們的信任，以及你們對我們的寶貴股東資本的信任。我們將每天努力工作，以贏得您的信任和持續的業務。

Thank you, and have a great day.

謝謝您，祝您有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。