Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional SA (CSN) saw its bond prices rally following the announcement that Benjamin Steinbruch would be stepping down as CEO after more than two decades. Fabio Schvartsman, former head of Vale SA, will take over the leadership, effective immediately. This leadership change is viewed by analysts as a positive development that could accelerate CSN's long-anticipated asset sales, which are critical for the company to reduce its substantial debt burden.
The strategic review aims to dispose of stakes in CSN's cement and infrastructure businesses, with a target of raising $2.9 billion. The company had already been actively pursuing these divestments. In January 2026, CSN announced plans to sell significant stakes in CSN Infraestrutura, which includes ports, railways, and a logistics company, and its cement unit. The infrastructure package, initially valued at $1 billion, attracted over three non-binding offers by September 2026, including interest from I Squared Capital and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). CSN was considering selling between 20% and 30% of these assets. For the cement unit, multiple binding bids were received, including from China's Huaxin and a consortium of Cementir and Votorantim, with valuations expected to exceed $15 billion.
CSN's efforts to manage its debt also included securing a $1.2 billion bridge loan in March 2026, which could be increased to $1.4 billion, partly secured by assets designated for sale. Despite operational improvements in the second quarter of 2026, the company reported a net loss of $773.1 million, and its net debt rose to $42.1 billion, resulting in a leverage ratio of 3.5 times net debt to EBITDA. The new CEO's appointment is expected to provide fresh impetus to these ongoing deleveraging strategies, which are crucial for the company's financial health and investor confidence.
