Natixis

Mercuria, the Swiss energy and commodity trader, is set to launch its annual European refinancing loan next week, according to a banker familiar with the deal.

Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE) rolled out the European corporate bond market’s second 20 year bond of the year on Tuesday as investors lapped up the duration on offer.

Commodities trader Gunvor Singapore, which had been talking to banks since February about refinancing debt, has launched its latest $750m borrowing.

Bankers have questioned if the yields available in the euro market will prove sufficiently attractive to prospective investors as the start of the second quarter nears.

The City of Paris was forced to widen pricing on a 15 year bond offering on Wednesday, with leads blaming the move on a rally in bonds that followed dovish comments from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday.

Issuers have nipped into the euro market after Easter with some canny deals. Meanwhile the dollar market was watching US Federal Reserve chairperson, Janet Yellen, who on Tuesday said that the possibility of further rate hikes was “not a plan set in stone”.

The City of Paris is set to follow deals from the European Stability Mechanism and SNCF Réseau last week by bringing a trade at the long end of the euro curve.

Will euros or dollars dominate SSA bond issuance in the second quarter? Debate over the direction of primary markets broke out this week with issuers scheming arbitrage trades in euros, while others believe the dollars will win out. Craig McGlashan reports.

French industrial minerals producer Imerys brought two tranches of €300m sub benchmark notes to the European corporate bond market on Wednesday and clinched minimal concessions.

SNCF Réseau became the second SSA issuer of the week to target the long end of the euro curve, printing a €500m May 2037 on Wednesday.

A trio of issuers in euros joined the sole dollar SSA benchmark deal this week in a flurry of pre-holiday activity, with a banker away from the this week's action remarking that the terrorist attacks in Belgium were likely to have a limited effect on SSA deals.

Zodiac Aerospace, the French aeroplane seat maker, has sold a seven year Euro private placement to refinance an older Euro PP and the first instalment of a Schuldschein, both issued in 2013.