* China iron ore port stocks down 11 pct from record-high
* Steel, coking coal prices drop
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Chinese iron ore futures climbed more than 2 percent to their highest in almost eight months on Monday, supported by firm demand for the steelmaking raw material in the world's top consumer as stockpiles at its ports dropped last week.
Inventories of iron ore at China's major ports fell 150,000 tonnes from the previous week to 143.85 million tonnes on Friday, data compiled by the SteelHome consultancy showed. SH-TOT-IRONINV
The port stocks have dropped 11 percent since hitting a record-high of 161.98 million tonnes in June.
The most-traded January iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 rose as far as 546.50 yuan ($79) a tonne, its loftiest since March 5. It was up 1.4 percent at 542 yuan by 0205 GMT.
"Steel production remains high and the use of iron ore is very high," said an iron ore trader in China's port city of Rizhao.
China's daily crude steel output rose to a record 2.7 million tonnes in September as mills in the world's top producer chased strong profit margins before the start of winter production curbs aimed at tackling smog. this year's restrictions are expected to be more lenient than during the winter of 2017 after China allowed local governments to set their own production limits instead of implementing blanket curbs. iron ore for delivery to China SH-CCN-IRNOR62 reached $76.40 a tonne on Friday, unchanged from the previous day which was the highest since early March, SteelHome data showed.
"I think the recent price rise was reasonable. Iron ore has found a bottom at around $55-$60, but there are risks to the upside with the Chinese economy facing problems," the Rizhao trader said. He declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media.
Profit growth at China's industrial firms slowed for the fifth consecutive month in September as sales of raw materials and manufactured goods further ebbed, pointing to cooling domestic demand in the world's second-biggest economy. on Monday, the most-active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 slipped 1 percent to 4,179 yuan a tonne. Coking coal DJMcv1 fell 1.8 percent to 1,391.50 yuan and coke DCJcv1 slid 2.3 percent to 2,396 yuan.
($1 = 6.9464 Chinese yuan)