Iron Ore-Swaps rise on hopes of pickup in China demand

* Expectations of China restocking after holiday

* Two big Vale ships headed for Philippines

* Spot iron ore steady at $139.80/tonne

By Manolo Serapio Jr

SINGAPORE, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Prices of iron ore forward swaps rose on Thursday as investors bet on a recovery in spot rates with Chinese steel mills likely to replenish stockpiles when they return next week after the Lunar New Year break.

The Singapore Exchange-cleared February swap contract is "running at $146" a tonne in early deals, said a Singapore-based iron ore swaps broker. That is at a steep premium to the current spot rate of around $140.

"The market's pricing in a restocking boom," he said.

The February contract rose $1.12 to $144.81 on Wednesday, with March also up by the same amount to $143.75. Volume cleared by SGX, which clears the bulk of global swaps, jumped to 168 lots from 48 lots on Tuesday.

Miners may also be anticipating a recovery in Chinese demand.

Two big vessels, each possibly carrying around 350,000 tonnes of iron ore, from top iron ore exporter Vale are heading for the Philippines next month as the Brazilian miner looks to use the Southeast Asian country as an alternative base to reach Chinese ports.

The physical market remained dull with China away all this week for the Lunar New Year holiday.

"There are no real bonafide Chinese players in the market at all or people who have a large Asia book," said an iron ore trader.

Iron ore with 62 percent iron content .IO62-CNI=SI was unchanged at $139.80 a tonne for a third day in a row on Wednesday, according to Steel Index.

Reflecting China's absence from the market, the Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell to its lowest in more than three years on Wednesday, with a surplus of vessels also weighing on sentiment.

The index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities like iron ore and coal, fell nearly 3 percent to 784 points, the lowest since Jan. 6, 2009.

(Editing by Sugita Katyal)