Reporting by Min Zhang and Dominique Patton; editing by Uttaresh.V 

September 3, 2021 - Chinese coking coal futures soared 8% to hit their daily upper limit and an all-time high on Thursday, fuelling a rally in coke prices too, as sluggish imports and production control at mines stoked supply concerns.

Mongolia reported most single-day COVID-19 cases on Sept. 1, indicating imports of coking coal from the country could remain cool this month, Galaxy Futures wrote in a note.

Meanwhile, China’s National Mine Safety Administration recently reiterated the importance of safety production at mines in the remainder of the year.

Some plants in the Shanxi province had raised coking coal prices, according to a Huatai Futures note, further widening backwardation between spot and futures markets.

The most-active coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DJMcv1, for January delivery, jumped 8% to 2,669 yuan ($412.99) per tonne.

Coke futures on the Dalian bourse also reached trading limit in morning session. They closed up 6.5% at 3,359 yuan a tonne.

Benchmark iron ore futures inched down 0.6% to 774 yuan per tonne at close, stepping back from gains earlier in the session.

Spot prices of iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China, compiled by SteelHome consultancy, dropped $11 to $147.5 a tonne on Wednesday.

Steel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed.

Construction rebar edged up 0.2% to 5,273 yuan a tonne.

Hot rolled coils, used in cars and home appliances, increased 0.9% to 5,571 yuan per tonne.

Stainless steel futures SHSScv1, for October delivery, dipped 0.7% to 17,805 yuan a tonne.