NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's lowered its corporate credit ratings on Hayes Lemmerz International Inc HAYZ.O on Wednesday as the company teeters on the edge of either a distressed debt exchange offer or a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection filing, the agency said in a report.

Hayes' corporate credit ratings were cut to CC, nine notches below speculative, or "junk," status, from CCC-plus. The outlook is negative, meaning the agency could downgraded Hayes further in the next 12-18 months.

The downgrade reflects "what we believe are increased near-term prospects for either a distressed debt exchange or a bankruptcy filing," said Gregg Lemos Stein, lead author of the report.

The world's largest producer of automotive and commercial highway steel and aluminum wheels, said last month it is in discussions with its senior secured and unsecured lenders, but did not provide details of those discussions.

"Although the company did not provide specific details, we interpret this to mean that Hayes will offer to exchange some or all of its debt for equity or new debt at a steep discount to face value," said Stein.

"Given Hayes's weak liquidity and financial risk profile, we would consider such an offer to be a distressed exchange and tantamount to a default," he said.

The exchange offer fails, Hayes could then file for bankruptcy, the report said.

(Reporting by Tom Ryan)