CHINA will start publishing an iron ore price index later this month on a trial basis to give steel mills a guide to their imports of the steel-making ingredient for which China is the top buyer globally, the China Iron and Steel Association said yesterday.

The index will comprise two sub-indexes for domestic iron ore prices and import prices respectively, CISA said. The CISA said it will officially launch the index in October when it will be published weekly.

China is the world's top iron ore importer.

Zhang Changfu, vice chairman of the CISA, said yesterday that domestic steel mills have paid a total of US$16 billion more for iron ore imports in the first half of this year due to higher prices.

Also yesterday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said China's crude steel output may slow in the second half of this year on lower industrial production growth, power restrictions, tighter credit and the closure of outdated capacity.

The ministry said China's crude steel production may total 690-700 million tons in 2011, up from 627 million tons last year.

The forecast was in line with that of the CISA, which said yesterday that steel output growth may slow in the second half.

The country's crude steel output gained 9.6 percent to 350 million tons in the first six months of the year.