The price of iron ore has held at $US55 a tonne ahead of data releases from China, with the economic powerhouse in the forefront of investors’ minds.

At the end of the latest session, benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China was trading at $US55.00 a tonne, down from $US55.80 a tonne in the prior session.

Holidays in China towards the end of last week took some of the heat out of trading in the commodity.

This week could be quite different. On Tuesday, China releases trade data. Economists expect exports to fall at an annualised rate of 5 per cent for August, while imports are expected to dip by 6 per cent.

On Thursday, inflation data is due for consumer and producer prices, which will be followed up on Sunday by China’s monthly batch of economic data.