Iron ore futures in China jumped on April 9 as profit at mills picked up amid signs of a recovery in demand and as steel mills restocked raw materials.
The most-traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for September delivery, jumped as much as 2.5% to 593 yuan/t ($83.93/t) in early trade. It was up 1.9% at 590 yuan/t, as of 0330 GMT.
The May futures contract, meanwhile, gained as much as 2.4% to 658 yuan/t ($93.13/t), the most in almost two weeks.
"The rise in September contract is mainly due to recovering profits at steel firms," according to Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst with Jinrui Futures.
Rebar profit margin in north China touched 500 yuan/t, as of April 8, compared with a plunge to as low as 34 yuan tonne last month, according to Jinrui Futures.
The May contract jumped on rising utilisation rates at mills, and as contract prices clinched closer to spot price of about 674 yuan/t as it's due to deliver soon, Zhuo said.
Weekly capacity utilisation rates at 247 mills climbed for a fourth consecutive week to 77.8%, as of April 3, implying higher demand for raw materials.
The most active construction rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for Oct delivery, rose 1.9% to 3,288 yuan/t.
Hot-rolled coil, used in cars and home appliances, gained 1.2% to 3,128 yuan/t.
Dalian coking coal rose 0.5% to 1,227 yuan/t and Dalian coke edged up 0.3% at 1,764 yuan/t.
Shanghai stainless steel, for June delivery, rose 0.7% to 12,215 yuan/t.
Prices for spot cargoes of benchmark iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China rose to $83.5/t on April 8.
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Source:sxcoal
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