NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 10, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it placed its ratings, including its 'B' corporate credit rating, on Mount Morris, N.Y.-based American Rock Salt Co. LLC (ASRC) on CreditWatch with negative implications. "The action reflects the company's very thin liquidity and weak operating performance stemming from the unprecedented mild weather in ARSC's upstate New York operating area," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Marie Shmaruk. "A mild winter so far has lowered the demand for the company's highway deicing salt, forcing ASRC to temporarily idle its lone mining operation." Although the company's availability on its $30 million asset-based revolving credit facility was $8 million on Sept. 30, 2006, its current liquidity position
