MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 12, 2012—Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had placed its 'BB-' corporate credit and issue ratings on Australia-based mining company Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. on CreditWatch with negative implications. The recovery rating is affirmed at '4'. "The CreditWatch placement reflects our view that Fortescue's earnings for year ending June 30, 2013 would be much weaker than expected due to the steep fall in iron ore prices since late July 2012," Standard&Poor's credit analyst May Zhong said. "Weaker earnings will erode its financial metrics, putting financial covenant pressure regarding its debt documents in the near term." The level of pressure is to a large degree dependent on near-term iron ore prices;
