THE price of iron ore has held at $US55 a tonne ahead of key 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 a tonne, down from $US55.80 a tonne 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 different. On Tuesday, China releases trade figures, with economists expecting exports to have fallen at an annualised rate of 5 per cent for August, while imports are expected to have dipped by 6 per cent.

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