The price monitoring centre of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)recently visited Qingdao port in eastern China and Tangshan port in northern China to investigate port inventories of iron ore, storage fees and the market and price situation, it said in a notice on its official Wechat account.
It also urged iron ore trading firms to avoid hoarding and inflating prices, adding that it was studying further measures.
The NDRC had already warned last week it may take steps to curb iron ore prices after a four-month rally, but futures continued to rise this week before dropping on Thursday on concerns about limits on steel output this year.
