BEIJING, Jan. 7 -- Stockpiles of iron ore at 25 major Chinese ports increased last week, according to Tuesday's Xinhua-China iron ore index report.

At the end of the Dec. 31 to Jan. 6 period, inventories of imported iron ore stood at 85.43 million tonnes, up 1.23 million tonnes or 1.46 percent over the previous period, the report said.

The index, compiled through research and analysis of 25 sea ports, showed that the price index for iron ore imports with a 62 percent purity grade increased two points from the previous week to 135. The index for imports of 58 percent purity grade rose two points to 122.

The report said that most traders still maintained a wait-and-see attitude toward iron ore products as the downstream market did not rebound during the New Year holiday.

The report predicted that the drop in steel demand will have a negative impact on iron ore trading and it is unlikely that there will be large-scale purchase orders of iron ore next week.