Iron ore prices recovered on Monday following one of the commodity's worst trading periods in years when prices fell close to 9% during the final week of May.

The benchmark import price of 62% iron ore fines at China's Tianjin port gained 1.4% to trade at just under $112 a tonne on Monday after falling to 8-month lows on Friday.

The improved price was a positive signal for the market which has been fearing that any acceleration in the recent sell-off could trigger full blown panic among traders.

The steelmaking ingredient is still down 30% from its 2013 high of $159 hit in February and the recent sharp pullback was beginning to resemble the declines suffered in the fall of 2011 and again in 2012. Iron ore hit an all time record in February 2011 of over $190 and famously eight months later suffered a $60 drop over the duration of 28 days.

The market suffered a similar shock in August-September last year when the Chinese import price dropped 25% over a month to a three-and-a-half year low of $86.70.