International credit ratings agency Fitch Rating has announced that it has affirmed Russia-based Metalloinvest's credit rating at 'BB', with the outlook being stable.
The affirmation reflects the expected improvement in financial risks despite a weak price environment in iron ore and steel products. The company's strong business profile and low production costs provide healthy positive free cash flow generation and resilience to market price volatility.
Metalloinvest reduced its total debt in 2014 by $1.2 billion to $4.7 billion. Fitch expects the performance of the steel segment to decline in 2015 as a result of weak prices for steel products and pig iron in both export and domestic markets. The negative effect of softer prices will be compensated to some extent by the weaker domestic currency and low iron ore prices.