U.S.-based iron-ore producer Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is issuing $675 million in debt to prefund the expected investment in its Port of Toledo hot briquette iron (HBI) plant. Construction is slated to begin in 2018. Over the past year, Cliffs has benefitted from elevated iron-ore prices and has reduced reported debt by over $550 million. As a result, we are affirming our 'B' corporate credit rating on Cliffs. We are revising the outlook to negative from stable. We are also assigning our 'BB-' issue-level rating to the company's proposed $400 million guaranteed senior secured notes due in 2024. The negative outlook reflects our expectation that iron-ore prices will fall closer to $55 per dry metric ton (dmt), which along with the additional
