BEIJING: Chinese iron ore futures jumped over 2% on Thursday, extending gains to a third session on falling shipments from major miners and gradually recovering utilisation rates at mills.

Exports of the key steelmaking ingredient from Australia and Brazil stood at 22.35 million tonnes in the week ended Jan. 9, down by 5.61 million tonnes from the week earlier, data from Mysteel consultancy showed. Meanwhile, molten iron output rose on easing environmental controls, supporting spot prices to remain relatively strong, Galaxy Futures wrote in a note.

Spot prices of iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China rose $3 to $132 per tonne on Wednesday, according to SteelHome consultancy. Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for May delivery, advanced 2.1% to 746 yuan ($117.33) a tonne by 0215 GMT.