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African Export-Import Bank is setting off on a dollar roadshow to market a benchmark, Reg S dollar bond with a tenor of five to seven years.

German chemicals supplier Lanxess found a surprising lack of demand for its first bond issue since September 2016, which sent bankers scrambling to re-examine their plans for next week's burgeoning corporate pipeline. Lanxess's struggle comes as new issue premiums and how far deals tighten through the bookbuild are being increasingly scrutinised as the market begins to imagine life in the European corporate bond market without the safety net of quantitative easing. Nigel Owen reports.

On Wednesday, German chemicals supplier Lanxess found a surprising lack of demand for its first corporate bond issue since September 2016. Onlookers suggested this is was not a good sign with a heavy pipeline building for future weeks.

On Wednesday, US car manufacturer Ford’s finance arm followed its recent trend in using the euro corporate market to fund itself in floating rate note format. The company kept its tenors short with a pair of FRNs, but found investors had a preference the shorter option.

One of the select group of companies that has issued Eurodollar bonds in recent years returned to the market on Wednesday after a two year absence, as BP raised $500m, aided by strong demand from Asia.

Daimler, the German car manufacturer, has raised more than €7bn equivalent from three different corporate bond markets within two weeks of announcing its quarterly results on April 27. The sterling market was its focus on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump’s decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran has sent Turkey’s bonds, already under pressure from a weakening currency, flying wider.

Standard Chartered managing director and head of Africa DCM James Nelson is returning to London after two years in Dubai.

The US corporate bond market has enjoyed strong new issuance volumes in the last two weeks, while the European market has been much quieter. But in emerging from two weeks shortened by public holidays, Europe is preparing to close the gap.

Euroclear’s refusal to continue settling Rusal trades when US sanctions were slapped on the company on April 6 may have saved many US bond investors from crystallising crippling losses. If the US plans further rounds of similar punishments, it should turn that happy accident into a permanent feature of the sanctions process.

After opening the Panda bond market in the mid-2000s, International Financial Corporation (IFC) has been absent from the asset class for over a decade. But Jingdong Hua, treasurer at IFC, told GlobalRMB that this could change — if China lets the issuer use its own accounting standard again.

Europe, unlike the US, has a market for unrated public bonds. This has been one reason why Europe’s private placement market has not grown as large as that in the US. In good times issuers find it a valid alternative to getting a rating, however, as tougher conditions return, the pendulum may be swinging the other way. Nigel Owen reports.