The price of iron ore has risen for just the second day in the last 11 amid a broad rally in commodity prices.

At the end of the latest session, benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China was trading at $US54.40 a tonne, up 0.7 per cent from $US54.00 a tonne in the prior session.

Trading has been light this week owing to a week-long public holiday in China, but the commodity has failed to capitalise on broad market optimism since the release of weak US jobs data on Friday.

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange as well as oil have been beneficiaries of the rising prospect of a delay to US rate hikes over the past week, with investors resuming a 'risk-on' mentality.

However, there is an air of caution around iron ore with traders unsure on the demand outlook from key customer China through a period when more supply is due to come online.