Chinese stainless steel futures scaled their daily trading limit on Thursday to hit an all-time high, as market watchers were concerned by ongoing supply constraints of the metal while downstream demand remains resilient.
"Stainless steel inventories are relatively low ... supplies will continue to fall affected by production controls, but consumption is stable," analysts with Huatai Futures wrote in a note.
Talks of output curtailment for nickel pig iron (NPI) also shored up prices, Huatai Futures added.
Some NPI producers in China's eastern Shandong province had reduced production recently, and that is seen to "significantly affect" raw material supplies, according to Mysteel consultancy.
The most active stainless steel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SHSScv1, for October delivery, surged 7% to 20,680 yuan ($3,214.87) per tonne.
Other steel products on the Shanghai bourse gained as well, with construction rebar SRBcv1 jumping 3% to 5,660 yuan a tonne and hot-rolled coils SHHCcv1 up 2.5% at 5,828 yuan per tonne, as of 0233 GMT.
Coke futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCJcv1, for January delivery, rose 3.1% to 3,425 yuan a tonne.
Coking coal prices DJMcv1 soared 6% to 2,863 yuan per tonne even as major producers sought the industry to ensure supply and stabilise coal prices.