The shift to corporate bond issuance in preference to syndicated lending resulted in a contraction of the Australian syndicated loan market last year.According to KPMG's latest Debt Market Quarterly, the Australian syndicated loan market was worth US$80.1 billion in 2012, down from US$107.2 billion in 2011. KPMG said another reason for last year's contraction was that a large number of Australian companies refinanced in 2011.Syndicated loan deals that were transacted in the December quarter included a A$2.4 billion Origin Energy refinancing, and a US$10 billion project finance deal for the Icthys gas project in Western Australia; this involved 24 commercial banks and eight export credit agencies.Issuance of corporate bonds, as a proportion of syndicated loans, rose from 29 per cent in 2011 to 39 per cent last year. KPMG said it expected this trend to continue.