Chinese iron ore, coking coal futures jump

January futures for coking coal in China reached a high of 1,288 yuan a tonne, for a 4% gain, while the most heavily traded rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange hit a two-month high of 2,568 yuan a tonne at one point during the session.

In parallel, iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose by 6%, the maximum daily limit allowed, to 471.50 yuan a tonne, their best mark since August 2014.

Some market commentary attributed the spike in futures prices to firm demand for steel in China, amid low inventories, and a shortage for some key ingredients such as coking coal.

For their part, analysts at SP Angel ascribed the gains in iron ore to improved sentiment driven by positive quarterly earnings results from Chinese steelmakers.