Gerdau Outlook Revised To Stable From Negative On Faster-Than-Expected Demand Recovery; 'BBB-', 'brAAA' Ratings Affirmed

Long steel demand in Brazil is recovering rapidly, and steel producers are adjusting domestic prices to match international ones following the domestic currency's sharp depreciation. That will improve the results of Brazil-based steelmaker Gerdau S.A. and enable its deleveraging in the next few quarters, after leverage rise during the first months of the pandemic. On Oct. 9, 2020, S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on Gerdau and Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. to stable from negative, and affirmed the global scale 'BBB-' issuer credit ratings on both companies. We also affirmed our 'brAAA' Brazil national scale rating on Gerdau, and the outlook on this rating remains stable. At the same time, we affirmed all of our 'BBB-' and 'brAAA' issue-level ratings on

...October 9, 2020 - Long steel demand in Brazil is recovering rapidly, and steel producers are adjusting domestic prices to match international ones following the domestic currency's sharp depreciation. - That will improve the results of Brazil-based steelmaker Gerdau S.A. and enable its deleveraging in the next few quarters, after leverage rise during the first months of the pandemic. - On Oct. 9, 2020, S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on Gerdau and Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. to stable from negative, and affirmed the global scale '###-' issuer credit ratings on both companies. We also affirmed our 'brAAA' Brazil national scale rating on Gerdau, and the outlook on this rating remains stable. - At the same time, we affirmed all of our '###-' and 'brAAA' issue-level ratings on Gerdau. - The stable outlook reflects Gerdau's resilient operations and steady metrics, and our expectation of gradual deleveraging, as well as its strong liquidity position that provides a cushion during market downturns....

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