...April 7, 2020 - In addition to challenges following its plant explosion and rebuild at its Port Neches, Texas, facility, we anticipate a global economic slowdown in 2020 will hurt demand for synthetic rubber in key end markets such as automotive, which will weaken credit measures. - As a result, we are lowering our issuer credit rating on TPC Group Inc. to 'B-' from 'B' and removing it from CreditWatch with negative implications. The outlook is negative. - At the same time, we are lowering our issue-level rating on the company's senior secured notes to 'B-' from 'B' and removing it from CreditWatch. The recovery rating remains '4', indicating our expectation of average (30%-50%; rounded estimate: 30%) recovery in the event of a payment default. - The negative outlook reflects the risks that macroeconomic conditions could weaken more than we anticipate, combined with uncertainty around timing and amount of receiving insurance proceeds, which could push leverage toward unsustainable levels....
