...- U.S.-based iron ore producer Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is issuing $400 million in guaranteed senior secured notes due 2025. - The company plans to use proceeds to improve its liquidity position over the next quarters, and possibly repay some of the $800 million outstanding under its revolving credit facility. - We anticipate that production interruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with depressed commodity prices, and flagging demand will contribute to continued earnings deterioration going into the second half of the year. As a result, we now expect Cliffs' adjusted leverage will climb above our current 7x downside trigger. - Consequently, we are lowering our issuer credit rating on Cliffs to 'B-' from 'B', and our issue-level ratings on Cliffs' senior secured debt to 'B+' from '##-'--this includes us assigning our 'B+' issue-level rating to the new $400 million senior secured notes. - At the same time, we are lowering the issue-level ratings on Cliffs' guaranteed senior unsecured...
