Other steel-making ingredients extended gains as supply-related concerns persist, with coking coal touching a four-week high following a deadly coal mine collapse in northwest China's Shaanxi province on Saturday.
Benchmark construction steel rebar prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 1.6 percent to 3,575 yuan ($528.44) a tonne, their biggest in nearly six weeks- just below the day's high of 3,576 yuan.
Hot rolled coil climbed 1.1 percent to 3,459 yuan. "Our steel inventory analytics model (indicates that) steel traders are starting to build up inventory of their position ahead of Chinese New Year (next month)," said Darren Toh, a data scientist with Singapore-based steel and iron ore data analytics company Tivlon Technologies.
Market sentiment remained upbeat despite data showing China's exports unexpectedly fell the most in two years in December, while imports also contracted, pointing to further weakness in the world's second-largest economy.
Investors were still upbeat about prospects for steel demand following the recent approval by the Chinese government of several infrastructure projects, Toh said.
The most traded iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange edged up nearly 1 percent to 513 yuan a tonne.
Rio Tinto said on Monday it has declared force majeure on iron ore shipments to some customers following a fire at its Cape Lambert export terminal in Australia last week. Although China's 2018 iron ore imports dropped 1 percent from the previous year, the volume still exceeded 1 billion tonnes for a third year running.