BEIJING: Iron ore futures prices climbed on Monday to their highest in nearly two weeks, buoyed by hopes of potential measures to bolster the feeble steel industry in top consumer China and expectations of a wave of post-holiday restocking from the country’s steelmakers.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 3.19% higher at 791.5 yuan ($109.42) a metric ton, the highest since Mar. 26.

The benchmark May iron ore on the Singapore Exchange climbed 6.15% to $104.4 a ton, as of 0718 GMT, also the highest since Mar. 26. The Singapore benchmark had dropped by 1% during April 4-5 trade when Chinese markets were closed for a public holiday after Beijing said last Wednesday that it would continue to manage crude steel output in 2024.

“The increase in hot metal output ahead of the public holiday showed that some steelmakers are in the middle of resuming production,” analysts at First Futures said in a note.