Korea Overtakes China With Record Corporate Dollar Bond Offerings

(Bloomberg) — Korean borrowers are selling an unprecedented amount of dollar bonds, overtaking Chinese peers to lead Asia’s primary market issuance for such debt.

Dollar bond offerings from South Korea rose 17% to $17.6 billion so far in 2024, a record for the period, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The bond rush pushes Korea to the front for such sales in Asia so far this year if Japan is excluded. If the trend continues for the rest of the year, it will be the first time since 2010 that Korea has sold more dollar bonds in the region than anyone else.