While signs of a recovery in steel consumption have improved demand prospects in China, the largest consumer country, where hopes for further stimulus have been revived, iron ore futures prices soared on Friday to their highest level in more than four months and are heading towards a weekly increase.

The most traded iron ore contract in May on the Chinese Commodity Exchange in Dalian (DCE) ended the morning session up 1.69% to 840 yuan ($116.00) per metric ton, the highest level since October 8, 2024. The March reference price for iron ore on the Singapore Stock Exchange was up by 0.34% to $109.05 per ton, at 03:38 GMT, also the highest since October 8, 2024. Both benchmarks have registered increases of around 3% since the start of the week

Other steel-making ingredients on DCE increased, with coking coal and coke increasing by 2.3% and 1.63% respectively.