BEIJING: Stainless steel futures on China's Shanghai Futures Exchange ended higher on Thursday, boosted by firm demand and strong raw material prices.

The most traded October contract of stainless steel closed up 0.9% to 14,135 yuan ($2,035.72) per tonne, after rising as much as 1.9% earlier in the session.

"Goods on the market are not sufficient due to the previous slump in inventories while demand is robust," Huatai Futures wrote in a note, adding that nickel prices continue to rise.

"Stainless steel prices could be resilient in short term propped up by costs."

Other steel prices on the Shanghai bourse were mixed, with construction rebar dipping 0.1% to 3,791 yuan a tonne while hot-rolled coils rose 0.8% to 3,916 yuan a tonne.

Weekly inventories of five main steel products held by traders in China fell 1.2% from a week earlier to 15.4 million tonnes as of Aug.13, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed.

Apparent demand for steel products last week, however, slipped by 1.2% on rising output and stockpiles at mills, according to Reuters calculations based on Mysteel data.

Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January delivery, ended up 0.9% to 927 yuan a tonne.

Spot prices of iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China was unchanged at $118.5 per tonne on Wednesday, compared with the previous session, according to SteelHome consultancy.

Dalian coking coal, for September delivery, fell 0.9% to 1,186 yuan a tonne.

Coke slipped 0.4% to 1,988 yuan a tonne.

China will step up policy support for foreign trade and foreign investment amid the worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus and a slump in the global economy, the cabinet said on Wednesday.