Iron ore futures rose on Thursday to their highest levels in three weeks on hopes of a recovery in Chinese demand for the steelmaking ingredient in the fourth quarter that has been hammered largely by steel production curbs since July.
The most-liquid Dalian iron ore, however, was set for its first quarterly loss in nearly two years and third consecutive monthly decline, having tumbled around 40% since hitting a record peak in mid-May.
The most-traded iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 soared as much as 10.7% to 758 yuan ($117.13) a tonne in early trade, its loftiest since Sept. 8.
Iron ore's most-active November contract on the Singapore Exchange SZZFX1 climbed 11.6% to $127.80 a tonne.