Nucor's fourth-quarter sales, profit decline on lower pricing, volumes

(Reuters) - Steelmaker Nucor Corp posted a decline in its fourth-quarter profit on Monday, hurt by lower pricing of its products and sales volumes across all its segments.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company produces iron and steel products as well as recycles scrap metal used in automotive, railroad and construction industries across North America.

"We remain optimistic that Nucor's best days are ahead of us, with a resilient U.S. economy," said CEO Leon Topalian.

Nucor said it expects earnings at its steel mills and raw materials segments to increase in the first quarter. It added that it expects earnings at its steel products segment to fall due to lower average selling prices.

The company's fourth-quarter revenue fell to $7.7 billion, compared with $8.72 billion a year ago.

Its net income in the quarter ended Dec. 31 was about $785 million, or $3.16 per share, compared with $1.26 billion, or $4.89 per share a year earlier.

Nucor had projected a sequential decline in its fourth-quarter earnings in December.

Last week, peer Steel Dynamics also reported a fall in its fourth-quarter profit on lower product pricing and higher raw material costs.

(Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)