Benchmark iron ore futures rose for a third straight session on Thursday, as spot prices in China stabilised after a recent sell-off following improved demand and easing worries about production cuts in the country's steelmaking hub.

Market participants also eyed developments that could fuel concerns about tight global supply of the steelmaking ingredient, such as the flooding in top exporter Australia and the Suez Canal blockage, analysts said.

Iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended the morning trade 3.4% higher at 1,074.50 yuan ($164.50) a tonne. It edged up 0.1% at $155.85 a tonne on the Singapore Exchange.

Spot iron ore prices were broadly stable on Wednesday, after Monday's sell-off triggered by worries about output curbs in China amid a clampdown on the industry's heavy polluters.

"Floods in Australia could tighten the availability of iron ore," commodity strategists at ANZ said in a note.

Australia has been hit by devastating floods caused by the worst downpour in more than half a century.