Asia Pacific

Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) received overwhelming demand for its $500m 10 year bond on Thursday, capitalising on improved market sentiment and a successful deal from Korea Midland Power the day before to secure a $4bn orderbook and price inside its curve.

The broader sell-off that hurt the dollar bond market last week did not make its presence felt in offshore renminbi. Bankers are confident that a flood of issuers will come to market after Chinese New Year to take advantage of favourable conditions such as stable secondary market performance, positive arbitrage options and a receptive investor base.

The outstanding size of the dim sum market will rise more than 30% this year, according to Standard Chartered senior rates strategist Becky Liu in a report published on Wednesday. Liu predicts that the market will exceed Rmb750bn ($124bn), up from Rmb572bn at the end of 2013 — with strong primary issuance of Rmb550-Rmb580bn.

The Renminbi Qualified Institutional Investor (RQFII) scheme is set for another milestone as China enters the Year of the Horse, with the first batch of exchange-traded fund (ETF) products investing in China’s onshore government bonds due to be launched around the middle of February. The new move will help establish a benchmark for all RQFII bond products.

The broader sell off that has hurt the dollar bond market is not making its presence felt in offshore renminbi. Bankers are confident that a flood of issuers will come to market after Chinese New Year to take advantage of favourable conditions such as stable secondary market performance, positive arbitrage options and a receptive investor base.

Chu Kong Petroleum & Natural Gas Steel Pipe Holdings has completed a series of fixed income investor meetings in Singapore and Hong Kong that could result in the company’s first ever bond. But bankers questioned why a first-time issuer would court investors in such difficult market conditions.

Gazprombank returned to the offshore renminbi market on January 23, raising double the amount it managed on its debut last year and becoming the first Russian issuer to tap the CNH market in 2014. The third largest bank in Russia also made use of a strong existing European investor base, attracting the biggest demand from that region for a CNH bond this year.

The first trade financing by a foreign bank operating in the new Shanghai pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) has been completed, with the sub-branch of DBS’s Chinese operation arranging a cross-border foreign currency letter of credit for Jeans International Trading, a company based in Zhejiang.

Chu Kong Petroleum & Natural Gas Steel Pipe Holdings has completed a series of fixed-income investor meetings in Singapore and Hong Kong which could result in the company’s first ever bond. However, a profit warning from the company has led bankers to question why a first-time issuer would court investors in such difficult market conditions.

Chu Kong Petroleum & Natural Gas Steel Pipe Holdings has completed a series of fixed-income investor meetings in Singapore and Hong Kong which could result in the company’s first ever bond. However, a profit warning from the company has led bankers to question why a first-time issuer would court investors in such difficult market conditions.

Daimler’s plans to tap the Chinese Panda bond market caused a stir last week given the rarity of such issues. The German automaker would be only the third name ever to tap the market, after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and would be the first corporate to do so. But bankers warn that there is little to suggest a flurry of activity will come in its wake. The problem is finding issuers that suit the market — and investors who want to buy.

Suntec Reit MTN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suntec Reit, priced a Singapore dollar bond on Monday. The borrower conducting a non-deal roadshow in August last year for a potential dollar deal but instead this time opted for the six year Singapore dollar transaction as it looks to refinance a S$1.1bn ($859m) loan facility.