BEIJING -- Prices of imported iron ore at 33 major Chinese ports have sunk to their lowest levels this year, a report showed Tuesday.

For the week ending Dec 29, the price index for iron ore imports with a 62 percent purity grade dropped 1 point from the previous week to 68. The index for imports of 58 percent purity grade stayed flat at 60, according to a Xinhua-China Iron Ore Index report.

Inventories of imported iron ore stood at 97.43 million tons, down 1.76 percent, or 1.75 million tons, over the previous period (Dec 16-22).

The report said the market witnessed slack trading of iron ore last week, due to the sharp decline of steel price. It is forecast that the lackluster steel demand will continue to push iron ore prices lower.

The report forecast that the iron ore market will continue to be sluggish in 2015 and the low prices of iron ore are likely to be the "new normal" of the market.

The index closely tracks changes in the domestic iron ore market on the basis of in-depth surveys of China's major sea ports, iron ore traders and steel makers, as well as analysis of customs statistics.

The original data was collected via the Xinhua global data and information collection network and put together with comments from experts in the iron and steel production, wholesale, and retail sectors.