Mexico-based petrochemical producer Alpek faced challenging conditions in 2016 due to low and volatile oil prices, slowdown of macroeconomic conditions, and relatively flat sales volume in the polyester chain. These drove Alpek's key credit metrics below our expectations. Additionally, going forward we view slightly weaker metrics than we expected. Therefore, we are revising our financial risk profile assessment on Alpek to intermediate from modest. We are also affirming our 'BBB-' corporate credit and issue-level ratings on Alpek. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the company will maintain its key credit metrics during the next two years, including debt to EBITDA of less than 3.0x and funds from operations (FFO) to debt above 30%, while posting margins around 10% through
