Employee Benefit Plans - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018	Apr. 01, 2017
Employee Benefit Plan [Abstract]
Profit Sharing and Retirement Savings Plan, plan expense	$ 51.7	$ 54.0

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