Fitch raises Usiminas, notes to CCC

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA's (Usiminas) long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings to CCC from RD and its national scale rating to CCC(bra) from RD(bra).

At the same time, the agency upgraded Usiminas' senior unsecured notes to CCC/RR4 from C/RR4.

Fitch said the upgrades reflect the improvement in Usiminas' financial flexibility, following the completion of its debt restructuring and a capital injection.

Due to the rescheduling of the maturity dates of 92% of the company's debt, it is now in a better position to withstand the severe downturn in Brazilian steel demand.

The new ratings assume the company will comply with all requirements of the debt agreement and will have access to at least R$700 million of the cash held at Mineracao Usiminas SA (Musa), a 70% joint-venture with Sumitomo, by June 2017, Fitch explained. The ongoing shareholders disputes, however, continue to negatively overhang Usiminas' ratings.

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