BEIJING - Iron ore inventories at 25 of China's major sea ports dropped to 100.35 million metric tons in the week ending Dec 5, down 520,000 tons from one week earlier, according to the Xinhua-China Iron Ore Price Index released on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the price index for 63.5-percent-purity iron ore imports rose two points to hit 147 points, according to the index compiled by the Xinhua News Agency to track iron ore inventories and imports in Chinese spot markets.

The price index for 58-percent-purity iron ore imports also rose two points week-on-week to rest at 119 points.

Xinhua analysts said the moderate price gains were due to the willingness of large and medium-sized steel companies to replenish stocks toward the end of the year following prior consumption.

However, the slight price rebound last week was not enough to push iron ore prices back to historical highs because market demand is not likely to fully recover in a short time and newly-increased global ore mining is adding to output capacities, which puts further downward pressure on the iron ore price, according to the analysts.