News: RIO China iron ore futures rise after Vale halts operations at Chile mine

• Dalian iron ore climbs 0.7% in early trade
• Shanghai steel rebar, hot-rolled coils rise
• China's 2019 GDP up 6.1% y/y - stats bureau

SHANGHAI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Benchmark Dalian iron ore futures rose on Friday after Vale SA halted operations at a Chilean mine and Rio Tinto reported a drop in its full-year shipments of the metal.

Brazilian miner Vale SA VALE3.SA has halted the tailings operations at the Esperança mine, which can process about 1.2 million tonnes of iron ore per year, citing the need for a technical evaluation and to potentially carry out work to improve safety at the site.

Meanwhile, Rio Tinto (RIO) reported a 3% drop in iron ore shipments in 2019 as the Anglo-Australian miner's operations faced disruptions due to cyclone and a fire at a port facility.

The Dalian Commodity Exchange's most-traded iron ore contract DCIOcv1 with May expiry rose 0.7% to 668.5 yuan per tonne by 0215 GMT. It was on track for a 1.4% gain for the week.

Spot prices of the benchmark 62% iron-content ore, as tracked by SteelHome consultancy SH-CCN-IRNOR62 , fell by $0.3 to $96.2 per tonne on Thursday.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded steel rebar contract SRBcv1 climbed to a one-week high, and was last up 1% at 3,592 yuan per tonne.

Meanwhile, Shanghai's hot-rolled steel coil SHHCcv1 , used in cars and home appliances, rose to its highest in a week, gaining 0.95% to 3,628 yuan per tonne.

FUNDAMENTALS

• The Shanghai Futures Exchange stainless steel futures SHSSc1 for February 2020 delivery fell 0.3% to 14,110 yuan per tonne.
• Dalian coking coal DJMcv1 rose 0.25% to 1,224.5 yuan per tonne, while Dalian coke DCJcv1 gained 0.65% to 1,871 yuan per tonne.
• China produced 84.27 million tonnes of crude steel in December, up 11.6% from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said. For the whole year, production at the world's biggest steel producer hit record 996.34 million tonnes in 2019.

• China's economy grew 6.1% in 2019, the slowest in 29 years but still within the government's target of 6%-6.5%.