In November 2005, the Votorantim Group attained the investment grade assigned by international rating agency Standard & Poor’s. The rating of the Votorantim Group went from “BB-” to “BBB-”, in recognition of the quality of financial management, the low level of risk exposure and practices of transparency in the presence of the market. Consequently, Votorantim now banks on better conditions of access to international loans, with lower interest rates.