* Shanghai rebar steady after Tuesday's drop
* Fortescue says sees stable iron ore prices going forward
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures in China rose as much as 1.5 percent on Wednesday as steel prices stabilised after losses in the prior session although traders do not anticipate heavy demand for the raw material ahead of a long holiday next week.
Most mills appeared well-stocked ahead of China's National Day holiday on Oct. 3-7, traders said, amid wide gaps between bids and offers for spot iron ore cargoes.
The most-active January iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 was up 0.7 percent at 409 yuan ($61) a tonne by midday. The contract hit an intra-day high of 412 yuan.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, construction steel product rebar SRBcv1 was little changed at 2,278 yuan a tonne.
"We've seen a period of stability in iron ore for the past 18 months and we see no major change to that going forward," Nev Power, chief executive of Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX told Reuters last week.
Power said while China's annual steel demand has plateaued at around 800 million tonnes, it remains a "very strong market."
Spot iron ore prices have risen 31 percent this year after a three-year decline but the upside had been largely capped at around $60 a tonne recently.
On Tuesday, iron ore for delivery to China's Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI slipped 0.4 percent to $56.20 a tonne, according to The Steel Index.
($1 = 6.6705 Chinese yuan)