BEIJING: Chinese steel futures rose on Thursday, with both steel rebar and hot-rolled coils getting a boost from resilient downstream consumption and an outlook for strong demand during the construction peak season. The most active January contract for construction-used steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 0.2% to 3,717 yuan ($540.36) per tonne.

Hot-rolled coils, flat steel products used in the manufacturing sector, rose 0.5% to 3,946 yuan a tonne. "Steel mills are ramping up ahead of the upcoming peak construction season," Citi Research wrote in a note, adding that China's steel demand will remain higher on an annual basis for the rest of 2020.

The most-traded iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January delivery, ended down 0.4% at 815 yuan a tonne. Spot cargo prices for iron ore with 62% iron content fell by $0.5 to $122 per tonne on Wednesday from the previous session.

Dalian coking coal rose 0.4%, while coke dipped 0.4%. Stainless steel futures rose 0.1% to 15,090 yuan a tonne. Profits at China's industrial firms grew for a third straight month and at the fastest pace since June 2018, marking a bright spot in the economy as the manufacturing sector slowly recovers from its coronavirus slump.