...- S&P Global Ratings expects American Rock Salt Co. LLC's earnings will deteriorate meaningfully in fiscal 2024 due to milder-than-expected winter weather and competitive pressures causing low volumes. - We expect EBITDA interest coverage below 1x and leverage sustained above 10x in fiscal 2024 (ending Sept. 30, 2024), marking a second year of double-digit leverage. - We believe the company is increasingly dependent on better business conditions to meet its financial commitments, such as more snowfall events and tighter regional supply-demand. - Therefore, we lowered our issuer credit rating on American Rock Salt to '###+' from 'B-'. - At the same time, we lowered our issue-level ratings on the first-lien term loan to '###+' from 'B-' and second-lien term loan to '###-' from '###'. The '3' and '6' recovery ratings, respectively, are unchanged. - The negative outlook reflects the potential for further liquidity weakness and covenant breach if current business conditions persist longer than...
