(Bloomberg) -- Nucor Corp. is sounding alarm bells that shipments of the key metal used from automobiles to skyscrapers will be reduced this quarter, signaling precarious demand across the US economy.

The largest American producer said Wednesday that it expects third-quarter earnings to range between $6.30 and $6.40 per share, falling short of the $7.74 per-share estimate by Wall Street analysts. Earnings from its steel mills would be “considerably lower” than the second quarter due to shrinking metal margins and declining shipments, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based producer said.

Nucor led steelmaker shares lower, tumbling as much as 9.2%, the most since May 5. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. slumped 7.6% and Steel Dynamics Inc. lost 8.2%. 

Nucor’s guidance comes less than a month after the industry convened in Atlanta for North America’s largest steel conference, where metal makers, analysts, buyers and sellers struck a more optimistic tone heading into the end of the year. One producer, who earlier this year dubbed the market a “falling knife” said he doesn’t expect a further breakdown in price, though tempered expectations by saying he didn’t anticipate a surge either.

The forecast may not be a surprise to investors who pay close attention to the market. Benchmark US steel prices are down about 45% this year as inflation, ongoing supply-chain snags and declining demand for durable goods dent appetite for the metal. Earlier this week, analysts at Wolfe Research said in a note to clients that steel mill guidance might disappoint, with declining prices of steel scrap -- a key feedstock for 70% of US steel production -- pointing to weak demand in the market.

Nucor’s expected decrease in shipments and margins means results could be roughly half of what they were in the third quarter of last year, when the steel industry was in the midst of a historic rally, Keybanc Capital Markets said in a Wednesday note. Nucor’s management are typically conservative with forecasts, so results are likely to be higher than the company’s guidance, Keybanc wrote.

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