Australia's syndicated loan market made a slow start to the year, with the volume and value of deals in the March quarter around half the level of activity in the December quarter. The March quarter is usually quiet and activity was higher than the same time last year.According to Thomson Reuters, 25 syndicated loans worth US$10.9 billion were closed in Australia during the March quarter, compared with US$9.9 billion in the March quarter last year.The Big Four banks were the dominant mandate arrangers. Number five was Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and three other Chinese banks were in the top ten.Thomson Reuters said Australian activity was dominated by refinancing. Asciano's A$1.3 billion was the biggest in this category.The biggest "new money" transaction was a US$2.5 billion bridging loan for China's State Power Investment Corp, which purchased the renewable energy developer Pacific Hydro.Australian syndicated loan activity ranked third in the Asia Pacific during the quarter, behind Hong Kong (32 deals worth US$20.8 billion) and China (58 deals worth US$11.3 billion).