International credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed Brazil steelmaker Gerdau’s rating at BBB-, with a stable perspective, it said recently.

The rating is based on Gerdau’s “position as the leading geographically diversified long steel producer in the Americas, which cushions revenues from volatility associated with exposure to any one single country.”

According to Fitch, Gerdau has robust liquidity, dynamic production structure and vertical integration to varying degrees in scrap, iron ore and coal.

The ratings agency said Gerdau faced a difficult trading environment for long steel over the past two years, “whereby external factors prevented the company from increasing prices while raw material costs increased.”

It alerted that a downgrade could occur following a prolonged duration of depressed worldwide demand for steel products that would fundamentally change Gerdau's medium-term capital structure.

According to Fitch, Gerdau has low refinancing risks, with a debt average life of 5.3 years and held over BRL3.5 billion of cash and marketable securities as of March 31, 2014.