Crédit Agricole

A triple-A rated supranational and two sovereigns from the eurozone periphery took the opportunity to lock in low rates at the long end this week, amid strong market conditions. SSA bankers expect more supply to follow at this part of the curve over the coming weeks, including from France and potentially Greece.

AIIB made its dim sum debut this week into a booming market. A slew of deals has been sold in recent weeks, with more paper printed in last the last 10 days than in the whole of any other year, except for 2019.

Eni, the Italian oil and gas company, raised €1bn with a bond issue on Thursday, while Quadient, the unrated French postal systems company formerly known as Neopost, continued the run of more esoteric corporate bond issuance.

China’s Bank of Communications came out with a $1.95bn-equivalent three-tranche deal on Thursday. It opted for a bigger dollar portion and a slimmer offshore renminbi (CNH) bond, compared with its last outing.

Italy and Belgium were the latest eurozone sovereigns to build their largest ever order books for syndicated bonds on Wednesday, with the former coming close to breaking the record demand from a eurozone issuer set by Spain on Tuesday.

The overwhelming supply of international bonds from Asia continued on Tuesday, as issuers dashed to raise dollars, and in one case, sterling. But not every borrower was able to cross the finish line.

Indian companies Birla Carbon and Tata Steel have mandated banks for loans and both borrowers have signed up large groups of lenders at the top level.

Arkema, the French chemicals company, has issued the second corporate hybrid capital bond in Europe in as many days. Bankers say investor appetite for higher risk securities is almost insatiable.

Two Indonesian deals brought international investors some relief from the onslaught of Chinese bonds on Monday. Pertamina and Tower Bersama Infrastructure netted a combined $1.85bn from three tranches of notes.

The European Financial Stability Facility took the spotlight in the euro public sector bond market on Monday with an intraday execution ahead of a busy week. The European Investment Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank, Spain and Cyprus have all announced new deals.

Matthew Xu has become an executive director of debt capital markets in Crédit Agricole’s China debt origination and advisory team, effective Monday.

US food group General Mills sold €200m of short dated notes on Wednesday, in its first sole-led deal since 2017.