The 'B+' corporate credit rating on Australia-based Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. reflects our view of Fortescue's aggressive growth strategy, limited product diversity, and asset concentration risk. These weaknesses are partly offset by the company's relatively low cost production, long-life reserve, improving cash flows due to a buoyant iron ore market, and the company's track record in commissioning large-scale projects. In our opinion, Fortescue's fair business risk profile reflects its low cost production, long reserve life, and limited product diversity. With a 55 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity, Fortescue is a mid-size mining company globally and the third-largest iron ore producer in Australia, behind BHP Billiton Ltd. (A+/Stable/A-1) and Rio Tinto Ltd. (A-/Stable/A-2). Compared to its iron ore peers in
