China's outbound investment in mining assets rose 83 percent to $24.8 billion last year on the back of the nation's growing appetite for commodities, industry experts said on Monday.

China's iron ore imports are set to rise to around 900 million metric tons this year, a 15 percent year-on-year growth, on the back of the country's growing steel production base and higher output capacity of overseas mining giants, experts said on Friday.

Weak demand of steel products continued to weigh down on iron ore prices in China, forcing dealers to stockpile inventories, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said Tuesday.

One of the longest losing streaks for the price of iron ore may have come to an end on Friday last week, but the recent rout does not appear over yet.

According to data, Korea’s iron ore imports totaled 36.81 million tons in the first half of this year, soaring by 26% year on year.

Australian Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) said that the company’s iron ore shipments hit a record high of 13.3 million tons in June, equaling an annualised run rate of 160 million tons.

It is reported that India’s JSW Steel imported its first iron ore shipment of 170,000 tons last week from South Africa.

Indian National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC) released its sales report for the first quarter of 2014.