Rusal, a Russian aluminium producer, has set a record for lending to Russian companies outside the oil sector with a loan worth nearly $2bn (€1.58bn), after strong demand from international banks boosted the order book by more than $1bn.

The privately owned company had initially been targeting a $1.5bn loan to refinance existing debt and plough into its capital investment programme, but subscriptions from banks have already rocketed up to $2.6bn.