BEIJING: Chinese steelmaking raw materials rose on Tuesday, led by an over 6% jump in coking coal futures on supply worries fuelled by imports of the ingredient remaining at relatively low levels. “Affected by the pandemic situation at home and abroad, customs clearance of coking coal from Mongolia have been running at low levels,” analysts with GF Futures wrote in a note, adding that road transport for coal has not totally recovered yet.

The most actively traded coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for May delivery, surged as much as 6.2% to 2,077 yuan ($326.34) per tonne. They gained 3.7% to 2,028 yuan a tonne as of 0330 GMT.

Coke prices on the Dalian bourse jumped 2.2% to 2,972 yuan a tonne. Benchmark iron ore futures extended gains into the second session, inching up 0.3% to 657 yuan per tonne, tracking spot 62% iron ore, which increased $7 to $115 a tonne on Monday, according to SteelHome consultancy.

Steel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were traded higher in the morning session, as Beijing’s recent monetary policy and stance brought hopes of recovering steel demand in the first half of 2022, according to GF Futures. Construction used steel rebar edged 0.6% higher to 4,373 yuan per tonne.

Hot rolled coils, used in the manufacturing sector, rose 0.8% to 4,510 yuan a tonne. Shanghai stainless steel futures, for January delivery, leaped 1.2% to 15,930 yuan per tonne. ($1 = 6.3645 Chinese yuan renminbi).