JSC "Uzmetkombinat" received an international credit rating at the level of sovereign "ВB-/stable" from the London branch of the international rating agency Fitch Ratings.
JSC "Uzmetkombinat" employs more than 12,000 people, is the seventh largest taxpayer in the country and ranks fourth in terms of net income and dividends paid to the state budget. According to the expert opinion of Fitch Ratings, the company has "Moderate" socio-political implicat of default, as more than 90% of its products supports the country's construction sector. The company produces 80% of all steel products produced in Uzbekistan and more than a third of steel products consumed within the country. Fitch Ratings also considers that the company's default may harm further development of the national steel industry and may hinder the development of the construction construction and steel sectors.
According to Fitch Ratings report, JSC "Uzmetkombinat" is in the process of implementing a major transformational investment project "Construction of the Casting and Rolling Complex" for the production of hot-rolled flat steel. The project will increase steel-making capacity of the plant from 1 million tons per year to 2.1 million tons per year and will double total capacity of output products to 2.2 million tons per year.
Assignment of the sovereign rating by Fitch Ratings demonstrates the strategic importance of the company for the country, ambitious plans to expand production capacity and ongoing transformational work to meet international standards of the company.
Autonomous rating of JSC "Uzmetkombinat" is assessed by Fitch Ratings at "b+", which, according to experts, is associated with its relatively small area of operation, low cost of production due to favorable conditions for purchasing scrap metal, strong position in Uzbekistan's steel market and current focus on production of long steel products with medium-term diversification into flat products and, as a result, expansion of the product range for sales.
More detailed information can be found from the Fitch Ratings official website.
For reference: Fitch Ratings – is one of the top three international rating agencies along with Moody's and Standard & Poor's. Founded in 1913, the headquarter is located in the state of New York (USA).
