Some iron ore mines have been storing their products in depots due to the low global prices, ISNA quoted a member of the Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association of Iran as saying.

�They plan to sell it when the prices are stable,� said Parva Soltani, blaming Australia for the current global challenge in iron ore prices.

iron ore, for the past few years, has been a cause for concern in the domestic steel sector.

It has been among the hardest hit industrial commodities in Iran, with prices falling more than a quarter last year.

After reaching $100 a ton last May for the first time since September 2012, prices fell to $89 in mid-June 2014 before recovering to $98 in July.

Iron ore plunged 44% last year to a five-year low as surging supplies from Brazil�s Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group in Australia created a glut just as China�s economy slowed.

By Financial Tribune