Nucor
Encyclopedia
Nucor Corporation a Fortune 300 company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina
, is one of the largest steel producers in the United States, and the largest of the "mini-mill" operators (those using electric arc furnace
s to melt scrap steel, as opposed to companies operating integrated steel works with blast furnace
s). Nucor claims to be North America's largest recycler of any material, recycling one ton of steel every two seconds. The total annual steelmaking capacity of the company is 25 million ton.
, who founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company
in 1897 (later, as Oldsmobile, to become a part of General Motors). Having left his company years before it was acquired by GM, in 1905 Olds established a new company, REO Motor Car Company
, the predecessor to Nucor, in Lansing, Michigan
. Though Olds' cars, including the luxurious REO Flying Cloud, were popular, they were not profitable, and the company's more successful truck business (featuring the famous REO Speed Wagon
) was still not sufficiently profitable to avoid a bankruptcy filing in 1938.
As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, REO exited the car business to concentrate on trucks, and after World War II
, attempted to diversify into lawn mowers. The reorganized company continued to underperform, and finally in December 1954, REO sold off its entire manufacturing operations
to Bohn Aluminum and Brass Company (suffering a $3 million loss on the sale).
However, a group of dissident shareholders noticed the tax loss and successfully challenged the liquidation in a proxy fight
in September 1955. In what amounted to a "reverse
hostile takeover
", activist shareholders forced REO to take over a tiny nuclear services company called Nuclear Consultants, Inc.
Following the purchase, REO Motor Company emerged as "Nuclear Corporation of America Inc.", and relocated to offices in the Empire State Building
in New York City
. Nuclear's attempt to recast itself as a nuclear industry services company was ultimately no more successful than REO had been.
Nuclear then followed the example of other companies in the 1950s and 60s and attempted to become a conglomerate
, once again moving its headquarters, this time to Phoenix, Arizona
. During this time it would purchase, among others, Vulcraft Corporation, a steel joist manufacturer located in Florence, South Carolina
. Vulcraft had been founded by Sanborn Chase (no relation to the coffee company), who died at an early age, leaving the company to his widow. Nuclear purchased Vulcraft from Chase's widow in 1962 and, in a sign of things yet to come, hired F. Kenneth Iverson
as general manager.
But Nuclear the conglomerate fared no better than Nuclear the nuclear services company or REO the car/truck/lawn mower manufacturer, and in March 1965 filed for bankruptcy for the second time in 27 years. The Board of Directors fired Nuclear's President (and, in the process, had to return his private jet
to him), but for two months could not find a replacement, as nobody wanted to head a corporation that was most likely going to go out of business. Finally, Samuel Siegel, an accountant with Nuclear (and friend of Iverson) who had actively been looking to leave the company, informed the Board of Directors he would remain with the company under two conditions: Iverson would become President and he (Siegel) would become Chief Financial Officer
, conditions the Board quickly accepted.
in 1966, to be closer to its main Vulcraft plant.
Unable to get favorable prices from American steel manufacturers, and unhappy with the imported steel available at the time, Iverson (a metallurgist by training) decided to integrate Nuclear backwards into steel making
by building its first steel bar mill in Darlington, South Carolina
in 1968. The company chose to purchase an electric arc furnace
, which was far cheaper than the traditional steel blast furnace, courtesy of a US $6,000,000 bank loan
from Wachovia
. Although the early days were tough (once the American steel manufacturers learned Nuclear was operating its own mill, they canceled their contracts), Nuclear was finally able to obtain the financial success that had eluded the company from its beginning.
In 1972 the company (recognizing that there was nothing "nuclear" about making steel or steel products) adopted its current name. Since that time, Nucor has expanded into other steel products, gained some control of its raw material supply and greatly expanded its market presence. In the 1990s, Nucor bought Birmingham Steel, including the Mississippi Steel
plant and Birmingham, Alabama
operations.
In September 2000, Dan DiMicco was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer
by Nucor's Board of Directors
. Under his leadership, Nucor has acquired compatible existing steel manufacturing facilities with similar operating philosophies.
In 2008, Nucor operates 53 facilities throughout the United States and one plant in Point Lisas, Trinidad. The company also has other operations through wholly owned subsidiaries, Harris Steel and the David J. Joseph Company (DJJ).
In January 2007, Nucor agreed to pay $1.07 billion dollars for Canada’s Harris Steel Co. The deal allowed Nucor to expand its presence in the type of steel used to build bridges, highways and other infrastructure projects, according to media reports.
And in February 2008, Nucor agreed to pay $1.4 billion for DJJ, one of the largest scrap brokerages. Analysts said the deal would help Nucor pocket more of its sales.
Prior to 2007, Nucor had a single brand, Nucor Building Systems which consists of four facilities in Indiana, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. In August 2007, Nucor acquired the four brands of Magnatrax (American Buildings Company, Gulf States Manufacturers, Kirby Building Systems
and CBC Steel Buildings) for $280 million to bolster its share in the pre-engineered metal building systems market. As a result Nucor Buildings Group was created.
In May 2008, Nucor also announced two joint ventures overseas to capitalize on thriving construction markets outside the U.S.
Steel products produced include:
The Nucor Culture
The Nucor Culture can be summarized in five areas: decentralized management philosophy, performance based compensation, egalitarian benefits, customer service
and quality, and technological leadership. Underlying these elements is the fact that none of Nucor's plants, whether built from scratch or acquired, are unionized. Nucor is opposed to unions, believing them to be a destructive force in the US steel industry. No Nucor plant has ever held a successful union certification election, even though Nucor management has not engaged in the controversial "union busting
" tactics adopted by other companies. The company has never laid off an employee due to a work shortage.
In addition to these established bonus plans, Nucor has periodically issued an extraordinary bonus to all employees, except officers, in years of particularly strong company performance. This bonus has been as high as $2000 for each employee; during 2005 two such extraordinary bonuses were paid and another in 2009 was paid(per the 10-K filing).
, Scholarship Program, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Extraordinary Bonus, and Service Awards Program) are not available to Nucor's officers but only to lower-level employees. As a symbol of Nucor's egalitarian culture, each annual report since 1975 has listed the names of every employee. In 1975, there were 2,300 workers and their names fit on the back cover. In the 2007 annual report, it took 12 pages to list the names of all 18,000 employees. In August 2006, the company did purchase a corporate jet for use by senior management
. In a letter to all employees from the CEO, Dan DiMicco explained that the frequent rentals of charter jets made a corporate jet purchase a cost-effective measure.
s to melt recycled steel (primarily from junked automobiles). In 2007, Nucor recycled nearly 10 million cars in its production processes, the equivalent of one SUV every four seconds. The company's website maintains a running count of the tons of recycled steel used during the current calendar year.
Currently, Nucor (in conjunction with two foreign-owned
steel companies) operates a facility in Crawfordsville, Indiana
that continuously casts
sheet steel directly from molten steel without the need for heavy, expensive, and energy-consuming rollers. The process (known as Castrip), if successful, would allow an entire mill to be built in 1/6 the space of a 'mini-mill' and at 1/10 the cost of a traditional integrated mill. They call this concept a 'micro-mill'.
Also, Nucor has two pilot projects, one in Western Australia
and one in Brazil, which are developing low-cost sources of iron for use in its mills.
Environmental record
In 2000, Nucor settled with the U.S. Justice Department and the United States Environmental Protection Agency
to resolve allegations that it had not adequately controlled the emission of toxic chemicals into the air, water, and soil of Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. The $98 million result was "the largest and most comprehensive environmental settlement ever with a steel manufacturer." The University of Massachusetts'
Political Economy Research Institute in 2002 ranked Nucor as the fourteenth-largest corporate contributor to U.S. air pollution
, with a toxic score of 152,421 (pounds released × toxicity × population exposure) due to the release of 760,000 pounds of toxins into the air yearly.
Since DiMicco took charge of Nucor in September 2000, he has emphasized that he wanted the company to become a leader in environmental performance. Nucor has added environmental staffing and training and adopted new technology – in some cases, groundbreaking technology that Nucor is working to patent and license to other companies. The number of toxins released, as measured by the University of Massachusetts study, has dropped by more than 35 percent.
Nucor is considered to be the largest steel recycler in the U.S. “We have always been green,” explains Shell. “NBS buildings average over 80 percent recycled content.” Projects fit with the industry trend of implementing green initiatives.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, is one of the largest steel producers in the United States, and the largest of the "mini-mill" operators (those using electric arc furnace
Electric arc furnace
An electric arc furnace is a furnace that heats charged material by means of an electric arc.Arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one ton capacity up to about 400 ton units used for secondary steelmaking...
s to melt scrap steel, as opposed to companies operating integrated steel works with blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
s). Nucor claims to be North America's largest recycler of any material, recycling one ton of steel every two seconds. The total annual steelmaking capacity of the company is 25 million ton.
History
Nucor's history consists of three distinct eras: the Reo Motor Car era, the Nuclear Corporation of America era, and the current Nucor era.The REO Era
Nucor's origins are with auto manufacturer Ransom E. OldsRansom E. Olds
Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer of the American automotive industry, for whom both the Oldsmobile and REO brands were named. He claimed to have built his first steam car as early as 1894, and his first gasoline powered car in 1896...
, who founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
in 1897 (later, as Oldsmobile, to become a part of General Motors). Having left his company years before it was acquired by GM, in 1905 Olds established a new company, REO Motor Car Company
REO Motor Car Company
The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904...
, the predecessor to Nucor, in Lansing, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
. Though Olds' cars, including the luxurious REO Flying Cloud, were popular, they were not profitable, and the company's more successful truck business (featuring the famous REO Speed Wagon
REO Speed Wagon
The REO Speed Wagon was a light motor truck manufactured by REO Motor Car Company. It was an ancestor of the pickup truck....
) was still not sufficiently profitable to avoid a bankruptcy filing in 1938.
As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, REO exited the car business to concentrate on trucks, and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, attempted to diversify into lawn mowers. The reorganized company continued to underperform, and finally in December 1954, REO sold off its entire manufacturing operations
Manufacturing operations
Manufacturing operations concern the operation of a facility, as opposed to maintenance, supply and distribution, health, and safety, emergency response, human resources, security, information technology and other infrastructural support organizations....
to Bohn Aluminum and Brass Company (suffering a $3 million loss on the sale).
The Nuclear Corporation Era
After the sale, REO was left with $16 million in cash on hand and no trading businesses. The company initiated liquidation proceedings, with the goal of selling its few remaining assets and distributing the cash to creditors and shareholders.However, a group of dissident shareholders noticed the tax loss and successfully challenged the liquidation in a proxy fight
Proxy fight
A proxy fight or proxy battle is an event that may occur when a corporation's stockholders develop opposition to some aspect of the corporate governance, often focusing on directorial and management positions. Corporate activists may attempt to persuade shareholders to use their proxy votes A proxy...
in September 1955. In what amounted to a "reverse
Reverse takeover
A reverse takeover or reverse merger is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public...
hostile takeover
Takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...
", activist shareholders forced REO to take over a tiny nuclear services company called Nuclear Consultants, Inc.
Following the purchase, REO Motor Company emerged as "Nuclear Corporation of America Inc.", and relocated to offices in the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Nuclear's attempt to recast itself as a nuclear industry services company was ultimately no more successful than REO had been.
Nuclear then followed the example of other companies in the 1950s and 60s and attempted to become a conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
, once again moving its headquarters, this time to Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. During this time it would purchase, among others, Vulcraft Corporation, a steel joist manufacturer located in Florence, South Carolina
Florence, South Carolina
-Municipal government and politics:The City of Florence has a council-manager form of government. The mayor and city council are elected every four years, with no term limits...
. Vulcraft had been founded by Sanborn Chase (no relation to the coffee company), who died at an early age, leaving the company to his widow. Nuclear purchased Vulcraft from Chase's widow in 1962 and, in a sign of things yet to come, hired F. Kenneth Iverson
F. Kenneth Iverson
F. Kenneth Iverson is credited with transforming Nucor Steel from a nearly bankrupt company in the 1960s into the largest and most successful steelmaker in the United States. Trained as a metallurgist, he became a very successful leader and businessman...
as general manager.
But Nuclear the conglomerate fared no better than Nuclear the nuclear services company or REO the car/truck/lawn mower manufacturer, and in March 1965 filed for bankruptcy for the second time in 27 years. The Board of Directors fired Nuclear's President (and, in the process, had to return his private jet
Business jet
Business jet, private jet or, colloquially, bizjet is a term describing a jet aircraft, usually of smaller size, designed for transporting groups of up to 19 business people or wealthy individuals...
to him), but for two months could not find a replacement, as nobody wanted to head a corporation that was most likely going to go out of business. Finally, Samuel Siegel, an accountant with Nuclear (and friend of Iverson) who had actively been looking to leave the company, informed the Board of Directors he would remain with the company under two conditions: Iverson would become President and he (Siegel) would become Chief Financial Officer
Chief financial officer
The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...
, conditions the Board quickly accepted.
The Nucor Era
Iverson and Siegel quickly reorganized Nuclear around its only profitable business, Vulcraft. All other Nuclear businesses were either sold or liquidated. The company moved its headquarters yet again, this time to Charlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
in 1966, to be closer to its main Vulcraft plant.
Unable to get favorable prices from American steel manufacturers, and unhappy with the imported steel available at the time, Iverson (a metallurgist by training) decided to integrate Nuclear backwards into steel making
Steelmaking
Steelmaking is the second step in producing steel from iron ore. In this stage, impurities such as sulfur, phosphorus, and excess carbon are removed from the raw iron, and alloying elements such as manganese, nickel, chromium and vanadium are added to produce the exact steel required.-Older...
by building its first steel bar mill in Darlington, South Carolina
Darlington, South Carolina
Darlington is a city in and the county seat of Darlington County, in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is a center for tobacco farming. The population was 6,720 at the 2000 census and is part of the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in 1968. The company chose to purchase an electric arc furnace
Electric arc furnace
An electric arc furnace is a furnace that heats charged material by means of an electric arc.Arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one ton capacity up to about 400 ton units used for secondary steelmaking...
, which was far cheaper than the traditional steel blast furnace, courtesy of a US $6,000,000 bank loan
Loan
A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
from Wachovia
Wachovia
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States based on total assets...
. Although the early days were tough (once the American steel manufacturers learned Nuclear was operating its own mill, they canceled their contracts), Nuclear was finally able to obtain the financial success that had eluded the company from its beginning.
In 1972 the company (recognizing that there was nothing "nuclear" about making steel or steel products) adopted its current name. Since that time, Nucor has expanded into other steel products, gained some control of its raw material supply and greatly expanded its market presence. In the 1990s, Nucor bought Birmingham Steel, including the Mississippi Steel
Mississippi Steel
Mississippi Steel Corporation was the first steel mill built in the state. It was in business from 1957 until 1985 when it was bought by Birmingham Steel Corporation...
plant and Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
operations.
In September 2000, Dan DiMicco was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
by Nucor's Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
. Under his leadership, Nucor has acquired compatible existing steel manufacturing facilities with similar operating philosophies.
In 2008, Nucor operates 53 facilities throughout the United States and one plant in Point Lisas, Trinidad. The company also has other operations through wholly owned subsidiaries, Harris Steel and the David J. Joseph Company (DJJ).
Recent Nucor Acquisitions
Since 2007, Nucor has made the two biggest acquisitions in its history, one to help control its raw material supply and the other to expand its product line.In January 2007, Nucor agreed to pay $1.07 billion dollars for Canada’s Harris Steel Co. The deal allowed Nucor to expand its presence in the type of steel used to build bridges, highways and other infrastructure projects, according to media reports.
And in February 2008, Nucor agreed to pay $1.4 billion for DJJ, one of the largest scrap brokerages. Analysts said the deal would help Nucor pocket more of its sales.
Prior to 2007, Nucor had a single brand, Nucor Building Systems which consists of four facilities in Indiana, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. In August 2007, Nucor acquired the four brands of Magnatrax (American Buildings Company, Gulf States Manufacturers, Kirby Building Systems
Kirby Building Systems
Kirby Building Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary company of Alghanim Industries. The company was established in 1976 and centers its operations on Pre-engineered buildings. It has manufacturing facilities in Kuwait, Ras Al Khaimah, Hyderabad and Haridwar with a production power of over 400,000...
and CBC Steel Buildings) for $280 million to bolster its share in the pre-engineered metal building systems market. As a result Nucor Buildings Group was created.
In May 2008, Nucor also announced two joint ventures overseas to capitalize on thriving construction markets outside the U.S.
Nucor Today
Nucor had sales of $11.19 billion in 2009 and employed 20,400 workers. The 2009 loss of $293 million posted by Nucor was its first annual loss since 1966. "Nucor 2009 Annual Report"Steel products produced include:
- Bars (carbon and alloy steelSteelSteel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
) - Beams
- Sheet/Flat Rolled
- Plate
- Steel joists
- Joist girders
- Steel deck
- Fabricated concrete reinforcing steel
- Cold finished steel
- Steel fasteners
- Metal building systems
- Light gauge steel framing
- Steel grating
- Expanded metal
- Wire and wire mesh
- In addition, through DJJ, Nucor also brokers ferrousFerrousFerrous , in chemistry, indicates a divalent iron compound , as opposed to ferric, which indicates a trivalent iron compound ....
and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HRI/DRIDirect reduced ironDirect-reduced iron , also called sponge iron, is produced from direct reduction of iron ore by a reducing gas produced from natural gas or coal. The reducing gas is a mixture majority of hydrogen and carbon monoxide which acts as reducing agent...
; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap.
The Nucor Culture
The Nucor Culture can be summarized in five areas: decentralized management philosophy, performance based compensation, egalitarian benefits, customer service
Customer service
Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.According to Turban et al. , “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer...
and quality, and technological leadership. Underlying these elements is the fact that none of Nucor's plants, whether built from scratch or acquired, are unionized. Nucor is opposed to unions, believing them to be a destructive force in the US steel industry. No Nucor plant has ever held a successful union certification election, even though Nucor management has not engaged in the controversial "union busting
Union busting
Union busting is a wide range of activities undertaken by employers, their proxies, and governments, which attempt to prevent the formation or expansion of trade unions...
" tactics adopted by other companies. The company has never laid off an employee due to a work shortage.
Decentralized Management Philosophy
Nucor is highly decentralized in its operations, there are only five managerial levels at Nucor (supervisor/professional, department manager, division general manager, executive vice president, and President/CEO). Most operating decisions are made at the division level or lower. In addition, Nucor claims that its corporate office staff numbers around 75 employees, which may possibly be the smallest number of corporate office employees among major corporations.Performance Based Compensation
All Nucor employees, from senior officers to hourly employees, are covered under one of four basic compensation plans (in addition to base pay) which reward employees for meeting certain incentive specific goals and targets:- Production Incentive Plan: Operating and maintenance employees and supervisors at the facilities are paid weekly bonuses based on the productivity of their work group. The rate is calculated based on the capabilities of the equipment employed, and no bonus is paid if the equipment is not operating. In general, the Production Incentive bonus can average from 80 to 150 percent of an employee's base pay.
- Department Manager Incentive Plan: Department Managers earn annual incentive bonuses based primarily on the percentage of net incomeNet incomeNet income is the residual income of a firm after adding total revenue and gains and subtracting all expenses and losses for the reporting period. Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings...
to dollars of assets employed for their division. These bonuses can be as much as 80 percent of a department manager's base pay. - Professional and Clerical Bonus Plan: This bonus is paid to employees that are not on the production or department manager plan and is based on the division's net income return on assets.
- Senior Officers Incentive Plan: Nucor's senior officers do not have employment contracts. They do not participate in any pension or retirement plans. Their base salaries are set lower than what executives receive in comparable companies. The remainder of their compensation is based on Nucor's annual overall percentage of net income to stockholder's equity and is paid out in cash and stock.
In addition to these established bonus plans, Nucor has periodically issued an extraordinary bonus to all employees, except officers, in years of particularly strong company performance. This bonus has been as high as $2000 for each employee; during 2005 two such extraordinary bonuses were paid and another in 2009 was paid(per the 10-K filing).
Egalitarian Benefits
Nucor's senior officers are not provided traditional "perks" such as company cars, executive parking spaces, or executive dining rooms. In fact, several programs (such as Nucor's Profit SharingProfit sharing
Profit sharing, when used as a special term, refers to various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to employees' regular salary and bonuses...
, Scholarship Program, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Extraordinary Bonus, and Service Awards Program) are not available to Nucor's officers but only to lower-level employees. As a symbol of Nucor's egalitarian culture, each annual report since 1975 has listed the names of every employee. In 1975, there were 2,300 workers and their names fit on the back cover. In the 2007 annual report, it took 12 pages to list the names of all 18,000 employees. In August 2006, the company did purchase a corporate jet for use by senior management
Senior management
Senior management, executive management, or management team is generally a team of individuals at the highest level of organizational management who have the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a company or corporation, they hold specific executive powers conferred onto them with and by...
. In a letter to all employees from the CEO, Dan DiMicco explained that the frequent rentals of charter jets made a corporate jet purchase a cost-effective measure.
Customer Service and Quality
Nucor is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and has participated in other elite environmental programs, such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Performance Track program. Nucor has also sponsored construction of a regional butterfly aviary, launched a waterfowl protection project and helped preserve wetlands. Several divisions have environmental management systems that conform to ISO 14001 standards.Technological Leadership
Nucor was among the first steel companies in the United States to use electric arc furnaceElectric arc furnace
An electric arc furnace is a furnace that heats charged material by means of an electric arc.Arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one ton capacity up to about 400 ton units used for secondary steelmaking...
s to melt recycled steel (primarily from junked automobiles). In 2007, Nucor recycled nearly 10 million cars in its production processes, the equivalent of one SUV every four seconds. The company's website maintains a running count of the tons of recycled steel used during the current calendar year.
Currently, Nucor (in conjunction with two foreign-owned
Foreign ownership
Foreign ownership refers to the complete or majority ownership/control of a business or resource in a country by individuals who are not citizens of that country, or by companies whose headquarters are not in that country.-See also:...
steel companies) operates a facility in Crawfordsville, Indiana
Crawfordsville, Indiana
Crawfordsville is a city in Union Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,915. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County...
that continuously casts
Continuous casting
Continuous casting, also called strand casting, is the process whereby molten metal is solidified into a "semifinished" billet, bloom, or slab for subsequent rolling in the finishing mills. Prior to the introduction of continuous casting in the 1950s, steel was poured into stationary molds to form...
sheet steel directly from molten steel without the need for heavy, expensive, and energy-consuming rollers. The process (known as Castrip), if successful, would allow an entire mill to be built in 1/6 the space of a 'mini-mill' and at 1/10 the cost of a traditional integrated mill. They call this concept a 'micro-mill'.
Also, Nucor has two pilot projects, one in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
and one in Brazil, which are developing low-cost sources of iron for use in its mills.
Environmental record
In 2000, Nucor settled with the U.S. Justice Department and the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
to resolve allegations that it had not adequately controlled the emission of toxic chemicals into the air, water, and soil of Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. The $98 million result was "the largest and most comprehensive environmental settlement ever with a steel manufacturer." The University of Massachusetts'
University of Massachusetts
This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
Political Economy Research Institute in 2002 ranked Nucor as the fourteenth-largest corporate contributor to U.S. air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
, with a toxic score of 152,421 (pounds released × toxicity × population exposure) due to the release of 760,000 pounds of toxins into the air yearly.
Since DiMicco took charge of Nucor in September 2000, he has emphasized that he wanted the company to become a leader in environmental performance. Nucor has added environmental staffing and training and adopted new technology – in some cases, groundbreaking technology that Nucor is working to patent and license to other companies. The number of toxins released, as measured by the University of Massachusetts study, has dropped by more than 35 percent.
Nucor is considered to be the largest steel recycler in the U.S. “We have always been green,” explains Shell. “NBS buildings average over 80 percent recycled content.” Projects fit with the industry trend of implementing green initiatives.