We lowered our iron ore price assumptions by 24% to $65 per metric ton through 2016. We now expect U.S.-based iron ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.'s debt to EBITDA will exceed 10x and funds from operations (FFO) to debt will drop below 12%, ratios that are indicative of a "highly leveraged" financial risk profile. We are lowering our corporate credit rating on the company to 'B' from 'BB-'. At the same time, we are lowering our issue-level ratings on the company's senior secured and senior unsecured debt to 'BB-' from 'BB+' and to 'B' from 'BB-', respectively. The outlook is stable based on our expectation that iron ore prices have bottomed out and that the company will maintain sufficient
