Here’s the latest price update for the iron ore complex, where spot prices are steady but futures are going nuts:

Dalian futures are poised to breakout here, which is good news for Rio Tinto, which just boosted its end of year exports.

More from the AFR:

Rio Tinto appears very likely to achieve its recently lowered iron ore export guidance for 2016, with port statistics suggesting the company lifted its game in the final three months of the year.

Rio will report its full-year production numbers on Tuesday January 17, one day after coal pure play Whitehaven Coal kicks off quarterly reporting season for resource stocks on Monday.

But December quarter statistics from the Port of Dampier, one of the two Western Australian ports that Rio ships its iron ore through, suggest the company exported about 11 per cent more than it had during the September quarter.

Rio shipped 33.93 million tonnes million tonnes through Dampier in the September quarter, and lifted that to 37.43 million tonnes in the final three months of the year.

UBS analyst Glyn Lawcock said he was expecting Rio’s shipments to be about 87.7 million tonnes, including volumes owned by joint venture partners like Hancock Prospecting and Sinosteel.

“Rio’s strong finish to 2016 has seen them come in at the middle of revised guidance [of] 325 330 million tonnes shipped,” he said in a note.

The strong rate of exports from Dampier during the December quarter fits with the statistics recently published from nearby Port Hedland, Australia’s top iron ore export location.

Monthly iron ore shipments through Port Hedland set a new record in December at 43.9 million tonnes, suggesting that the port tenants – Fortescue Metals Group, BHP Billiton, Roy Hill, Atlas Iron, BC Iron and Mineral Resources – also lifted their output.

Since bottoming in early 2016, RIOs share price has zoomed 63% higher to almost break its 2015 high. This chart looks very similar to Dalian futures above so watch out if it breaks new highs:

Daily iron ore price update (RIO full tilt)