* Dalian iron ore scales new peak at 962 yuan/t
* SGX iron ore extends rally into ninth session
* Spot iron ore prices at highest since Dec 2013
By Enrico Dela Cruz
MANILA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Dalian iron ore hit a record peak on Friday and was on track to post its fifth straight weekly gain, boosted by top consumer China's robust demand for the steelmaking ingredient and supply concerns, while prices in Singapore rose for the ninth session in a row.
The most-traded iron ore for January delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 jumped 3.2% to 962 yuan ($146.94) tonne in late morning trade.
Iron ore's most-active January contract on the Singapore Exchange SZZFF1 climbed 1.7% to $134.77 a tonne.
The rally has propelled seaborne and port iron ore prices in China to the highest in seven years. The benchmark 62% material traded at $136 a tonne on Thursday, based on SteelHome consultancy data. SH-CCN-IRNOR62
Robust demand from Chinese steel mills as they continued to ramp up output stoked a rally that was further fuelled by disappointing output forecasts for 2020 and 2021 by Brazilian miner Vale SA VALE3.SA . by mills has been driving demand and this has made the market very sensitive to supply developments," commodity strategists at ING said in a note.
China's iron ore port stockpiles declined for two consecutive weeks to 130.3 million tonnes, as of Nov. 27, following a five-month rise, SteelHome data showed, due to a decline in shipments from Australia and Brazil and increased purchases by mills. SH-TOT-IRONINV
"Driven by profits, steel mills are not willing to actively reduce production," analysts at Sinosteel Futures in Beijing said in a note.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The Dalian exchange has set a limit on open positions for iron ore for delivery in May, which will take effect on Dec. 7. Construction steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 was down 0.3% by 0317 GMT, while hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 gained 0.1%. Stainless steel SHSScv1 slipped 0.8%.
* Dalian coking coal DJMcv1 dropped 0.4% but coke DCJcv1 advanced 0.5%.