S&P warns of imminent downgrade for several miners

Reuters
File photo of Standard & Poor's building in New York's financial district February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's warned on Monday it may soon downgrade several miners as it lowered its iron ore price estimates for the next couple of years. S&P said in a statement it was placing on watch negative the credit ratings of Vale SA , Rio Tinto PLC , BHP Billiton Ltd , Anglo American PLC , CAP SA , Exxaro Resources , Fortescue Metals Group Ltd , and Eurasian Resources Group (ERG). S&P said it expects to make its rating decisions over the next two to three weeks. (Reporting by Walter Brandimarte; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)