Pressure on iron ore mounts as Vale output, Rio shipments rise

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Dalian iron ore slumped to its weakest in six weeks on Tuesday while futures in Singapore hit the lowest this year, as miner Vale SA's higher third-quarter output of the steelmaking ingredient added pressure on already depressed prices.

Brazil's Vale VALE3.SA, one of the world's largest miners, reported a 1.1% increase in quarterly production.

Another major miner Rio Tinto RIO.AX, RIO.L reported higher iron ore shipments in the last quarter compared with the previous three months.

The most-traded January iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 ended daytime trade 0.4% lower at 687 yuan ($95.57) a tonne, after earlier hitting its lowest since Sept. 7 at 678 yuan.

Benchmark November iron ore on the Singapore Exchange SZZFX2 fell as much as 1.4% to $90.30 a tonne, after which support emerged. It was up 1% at $92.50 by 0705 GMT.