Customers seek low carbon steel: Nucor

Steel consumers already are seeking low carbon steel, Nucor's chief executive said at a conference in New York today.

Nucor chief executive Leon Topalian called low emissions steel products "the fastest moving part of our industry today" in comments at the Global Steel Dynamics Forum in New York today.

"You think about the major OEMs in automotive, they demand a cleaner product," Topalian said, as do "your high end manufacturing segments, the build-out of data centers and renewable projects."

Nucor's comments echo similar ones made by competitor Steel Dynamics' chief financial officer Monday at the same conference that the industry needs global carbon standards for green steel.

Part of decarbonizing steel includes investments in alternative energy sources like nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs). Nucor has invested in SMR company NuScale and signed a preliminary agreement in May to study installing SMRs on the site of some of Nucor's mills.

"As you think about what's happening around the world and looking for clean, reliable, and sustainable resources, it's beyond due that our country embrace nuclear technology," Topalian said.

While he would not put a timeframe on when these power plants could be built, Topalian was encouraged by the multiple SMR technologies that are being funded, adding "the truth is we need them all to work."

By Rye Druzin