Dalian: Iron ore futures closed higher on Thursday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE). The most active iron ore contract for January 2025 delivery gained 16.5 yuan (about 2.3 U.S. dollars) to close at 799.5 yuan per tonne.According to Namibia Press Agency, the total trading volume of 12 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange reached 463,848 lots, with a turnover of about 36.53 billion yuan. As the world's leading importer of iron ore, China opened the DCE iron ore futures to international investors in May 2018, marking a significant development in global commodity trading.