Employee Benefit Plan - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 30, 2013	Mar. 30, 2012
Employee Benefit Plans [Line Items]
Profit Sharing and Retirement Savings Plan, plan expense	$ 13.6	$ 22.6

Costs and payments related to employee profit sharing and retirement savings plans.

No definition available.

Name:	nue_ProfitSharingAndRetirementSavingsPlanExpense
Namespace Prefix:	nue_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration