Iron ore and coal prices on a key Chinese futures market have surged again as traders take a bet on demand building well into next year.

Key points: Iron ore futures up 6 per cent today to $US90.20 a tonne

Iron ore futures up 6 per cent today to $US90.20 a tonne Indicates traders believe prices will be higher in three-to-six months

Indicates traders believe prices will be higher in three-to-six months Impact of Trump administration "uncertain" in long term given steel self-sufficiency plans

In morning trade, Dalian iron ore futures jumped another 6 per cent to $US90.20 a tonne (614.50 yuan/tonne), while coking coal futures were up 2 per cent to $81.30/tonne - a rise of 10 per cent in just the past five days.

Iron ore futures are now trading at a 16 per cent premium to the spot Chinese Steel Index price which hit $US74.20 yesterday.

Spot prices have jumped more than 35 per cent in the past month alone.

A spread between spot and futures prices is normal, but it has widened considerably in the past few days.

ANZ senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said, while there is a fair bit of speculation in the movement, the acceleration in futures shows traders are undeniably in a bullish mood.

"The market view is there will be better fundamentals over three-to-six months where those contracts trade," he said.

"They are taking a bet that prices will continue to rise."

Mr Hynes noted prices have kicked even higher after Donald Trump's US election win, but there are still serious questions about what it means for commodity markets in the longer term.

"Industrial metals surged higher as investors initially focused on the potential impact of his infrastructure plan on commodity demand," Mr Hynes observed.

"However, this could be mitigated by his vision to utilise American steel.

"With so much ambiguity around his policies, volatility is likely to remain high in commodity markets."

The immediate beneficiaries have been the big miners, with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto rising 12 per cent over the week, while Fortescue is up 17 per cent.

RBC's Paul Hissey said it appears iron ore is undergoing a transition where futures, or paper-positioning, is now the price benchmark, meaning daily prices can become more removed from fundamentals.

"This has long been the case in oil, and to a lesser extent in copper, but importantly is not yet the case - as far as we understand - in coal due in part to the more diverse range of products," Mr Hissey said.

"So what matters now is the duration of this renewed exuberance - let's not forget, the market was selling off at the prospect of a Trump presidency as recently as a week ago."

RBC's view is that gold in the short term may be a laggard, but there could be longer term gains if the "Trump-experiment" ends in tears.

"Moves in the bulks started before the election, and we're not sure to what extent stimulus in the US is likely to assist in demand for either iron ore or seaborne coal - especially if America is intent on providing its own inputs," Mr Hissey said.

"The more liquid names- such as BHP and Rio - should benefit while the market fails to pause and appropriately assess exactly what it is paying for; that comes later, if at all.

"It feels like momentum is key now and, to that end, excessive bottom-up analysis of commodity price, management, asset quality and growth are all redundant."

RBC has pencilled in an iron ore price of $US65/tonne for the start of 2017 and average of $US59/tonne over the course of the year, well ahead of the market consensus.