[Ferro-alloys.com]Production of iron ore in China, the world's biggest consumer of the key steelmaking ingredient, will climb to a record this year as bigger mines open, adding to a global glut that's depressing prices.

Output of low-grade, unprocessed iron ore may rise 5.6 percent to 1.52 billion metric tons this year, Shi Zhenglei, a Shanghai-based analyst, said in a phone interview. That's about 400 million tons of seaborne equivalent, he said.

The potential extra production from China comes even as iron ore entered a bear market in March and fell below $100 last month for the first time since 2012 as top miners including Rio Tinto Ltd and BHP Billiton Ltd expanded output. An increase in Chinese iron ore output would weigh on prices and boost steel mills' bargaining power over imports, Shi said.

"Larger mines are usually owned by steelmakers so production is mostly for their own need," said Shi. "Although mining is money-losing at current prices, they have to put the new mines into operation to achieve cash flow because they've spent a lot on the construction work."

Ore with 62 percent content delivered to the port of Tianjin declined 0.7 percent to $90.90 a dry ton on June 13, the lowest level since September 2012, according to The Steel Index Ltd. Prices lost 3.8 percent last week and retreated in eight of the past nine weeks.

Production of unprocessed ore in China was 1.44 billion tons last year, or about 380 million tons of seaborne equivalent, Mysteel's Shi said.

• [Editor:Mike.zhang]