Spot iron ore prices steadied near their weakest level since 2009 on slow demand from Chinese steel producers, many of whom still have ample stocks of the raw material.

Iron ore prices fell nearly 50 percent last year under pressure from a supply glut and they remain not far above the 2014 low of around $65 a tonne hit in December.

“With sufficient inventories amid a backdrop of tight credit conditions and weak steel prices, mills are in no hurry to restock,” ANZ Bank said in a note.

“Many steel mills are planning to shut down for maintenance ahead of the holidays, further fuelling little need to build inventories.”

Chinese markets will be shut for a week in February for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Iron ore for immediate delivery to China’s Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI slipped 10 cents to $67.80 a tonne on Wednesday, according to The Steel Index. The benchmark hit $65.60 on Dec. 23, its lowest since June 2009.

While there’s lean appetite for spot iron ore cargoes in China, traders say prices are unlikely to fall sharply at least during the first quarter.

“We don’t see a lot of new supply coming into the market in the first quarter so we might see the price staying around $70 for now,” said a Shanghai-based iron ore trader.

Still, Citigroup on Wednesday cut its iron ore price forecast for 2015 to $58 from $65, and sees it averaging as low as $53 in the third quarter, partly due to a decline in transportation costs amid falling energy prices.

Steel futures in China rebounded on Thursday after a six-day slide. The most-traded May rebar contract was up 0.8 percent at 2,506 yuan a tonne by 0242 GMT.

The May iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed 1.4 percent to 503 yuan a tonne.