CSN studying full exit from steel business

For now, discussions about selling a stake, or even the entirety, of the steel arm have been conducted by the company itself, which is expected to mandate a bank soon to advise on the divestment.

CSN announced this month that it plans to sell between R$15 billion and R$18 billion in assets to reduce financial leverage. At the time, the company said only that it would assess strategic alternatives and paths, which could include partnerships in steelmaking.

In cement, a relatively recent business in the group’s portfolio that has gained scale through a series of acquisitions in recent years, CSN said the plan is to sell control. Morgan Stanley is advising the company on this front.

The group also said it intends to sell a “relevant stake” in its infrastructure assets. According to a source heard by Valor, the idea in this case is to divest 20% to 30% of the operation, bringing in a new partner. Bradesco and Citibank have been mandated to run the transaction.

In both cement and infrastructure, the company’s goal is to sign a sale agreement in the third quarter of this year. Valor has learned that CSN began initial contacts with interested parties last year and already has ongoing talks. The cement business has attracted potential Brazilian and foreign buyers, while the infrastructure stake is being evaluated by international groups, according to a source.

The group’s strategy is to concentrate its businesses in mining and infrastructure, which offer better prospects and are expected to contribute more to margins. In steelmaking, the assessment, according to one interlocutor, is that the business will remain under pressure from imports, competing for CSN resources that could be allocated to more profitable assets.

On the balance-sheet side, the plan is to reduce financial leverage—measured by the ratio of net debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization)—to around 1 time and to double EBITDA within up to eight years.

Last week, S&P cut the company’s credit rating to “B+” with a negative outlook (implying the possibility of another downgrade within 12 months), citing persistently high leverage.

For 2026 and 2027, the ratings agency projects net debt of more than five times EBITDA, with potential reduction—excluding asset sales—only from 2028 onward. With divestments in cement and infrastructure, the group could reduce debt by about one-third by 2027, according to S&P estimates.

In September, CSN’s financial leverage stood at 3.14 times on an adjusted basis, with net debt of R$37.5 billion.