Iron ore stocks down as prices slide AUSTRALIAN iron ore miners are licking their wounds as the price of the commodity continues to slide. The iron ore price dropped to a seven-month low of $US113 as investors worry about weak Chinese steel demand. The fall in the price of the steelmaking material has prompted nervous investors to exit pure-play stocks such as Fortescue Metals Group. Fortescue shares lost more than six per cent, or 18 cents, to close at $3.30, reviving bad memories of a steep price plunge in September last year. The company makes a lot of money when the iron ore price is between $US120 and $130 per tonne but struggles when prices fall below $US100 a tonne. Analysts have forecast weaker iron ore prices this year, only months after a peak in early 2013. In September 2012 the iron ore price sank as low as $US86 a tonne, putting enormous pressure on high-cost producers. Atlas Iron shares closed 6.1 per cent, or five cents, lower at 77 cents as the company said it would decide whether to develop a new mine by the end of the financial year. Shares in neighbouring Pilbara producer BC Iron only fell one per cent, or three cents, to $2.95 after it announced its Nullagine joint venture is now producing six million tonnes of iron ore a year, in line with guidance. Shares in the world's second-biggest iron ore producer Rio Tinto were 1.4 per cent, or 74 cents, lower at $53.96. Rio Tinto has been criticised for its near total dependence on the commodity. AAP krc/jmc