Moody's upgrades JSW Steel's corporate family rating to Ba1

Moody's Investors Service on Monday said it has upgraded the JSW Steel Ltd's Corporate Family Rating (CFR) to Ba1 from Ba2.

At the same time, Moody's has changed the ratings outlook on JSW Steel Ltd and Periama Holdings LLC to 'stable' from 'positive'.

''The upgrade reflects JSW's continued strong operating performance and consistently strong credit metrics while maintaining good liquidity,'' Kaustubh Chaubal, a Moody's senior vice president said.

Ba1 rating means obligations are judged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk.

Moody's has also upgraded to Ba1 from Ba2 JSW's senior unsecured notes rating, the guaranteed backed senior unsecured rating on Periama Holdings LLC and the USD 40-million guaranteed senior unsecured revenue bonds issued by Jefferson County Port Authority.

In Moody's view, JSW's substantially stronger operating performance will help sustain its deleveraging.

The upgrade also reflects the successful commissioning of the company's 5 million tonnes per annum brownfield expansion at Dolvi in November 2021 and its ramp-up thereafter, which will translate into at least a 20 per cent increase in steel shipments during the ongoing financial year.