China's imported iron ore prices dropped by 7.2 percent year-on-year to reach 62.7 U.S. dollars per ton on average in the first three quarters, statistics with the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) show.

Analysts attributed the decrease to the slowdown of China's imports of iron ore.

China imported 247 million tons of iron ore in the first nine months, up a hefty 24.2 percent from a year earlier, but down 7 percentage points in growth rate, and meanwhile, this is the first time since 2003 that the import growth has dipped under the 30 percent bar, said Luo Bingsheng, CISA's vice chairman.

"The prices are declining because the imports of iron ore are turning to a moderate growth from a fast growth, which were influenced by the steady growth of domestic iron ore output," he told an ongoing international symposium on the iron raw material in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province.

In the first three quarters, China produced more than 400 million tons of iron ore, up 37 percent year-on-year, and the domestic prices have gone below the imported prices since May, CISA statistics show.

As a result in August, domestic steel businesses purchased iron ore from domestic mines 2.56 times that in January, statistics show.

After iron ore prices surged 71.5 percent last year, costing China -- the world's largest iron ore importer -- an additional 570 million U.S. dollars, the country has been demanding a bigger say in setting global benchmark prices.

China has been very active in negotiations with top international providers Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, BlueScope and Hammersley Iron. It only reluctantly agreed to a further 19 percent rise in iron ore prices this year.

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