The first few months of 2024 demonstrated there is ample appetite for high-quality corporate credit across global markets – including in Australian dollars, where new issuance has reached a record level. Market sources say US private placement investors are as keen as ever to access Australian-origin issuers. The question is whether those issuers will be willing to look beyond the domestic value proposition.

In pursuit of maintaining its domestic bond curve, Aurizon Network returned to the Australian dollar market for the first time in four years. The issuer reveals that the deal enjoyed abundant demand – which it ascribes to emerging understanding of nuance in sustainability as well as the ongoing positive backdrop for credit supply.

The Australian dollar market has been hot at the start of 2024 but, as the H1 corporate issuance window opens, so are core global markets. Intermediaries say the euro and US dollar markets are both offering highly conducive conditions, providing Australian issuers no shortage of reasons to jet abroad sooner rather than later.

There is no sign of the receptive primary market for financial institution issuers in Australian dollars losing momentum, according to issuer and intermediaries on the latest such deal. As has been the case in many recent transactions, a strong bid out of Asia was instrumental in driving early momentum in MUFG Bank Sydney Branch’s floating-rate-only deal.