International credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings has announced that it has upgraded Russian steelmaker Severstal's long-term rating to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BB+’, with a negative outlook.
Fitch stated that the upgrade reflects Severstal's resilient financial performance, despite a challenging market environment, and continued deleveraging. The ratings also reflect Severstal's strong operational profile coming from full self-sufficiency in major raw materials for steelmaking, a balanced product mix and strong sales diversification as well as a significant share (50 percent) of high value-added products in total sales.
Fitch also stated that the negative outlook on the ratings is in line with the negative outlook for Russia’s sovereign rating.