* Steel demand fails to pick up as strongly as expected
* Appetite partially curbed by cooling property sector -analyst
SHANGHAI, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Chinese steel futures dropped on Wednesday as analysts said demand had failed to pick up as much as expected in September, with prices for key ingredient iron ore also falling.
Steel prices had jumped more than 10 percent in July and August with traders anticipating a strong recovery in buying in the autumn after the summer slowdown. But analysts said that appetite in September had not been as strong as expected.
"The whole of September has not seen as strong a recovery in demand as expected, partially curbed by a cooling property sector," said Zhao Chaoyue, an analyst with Merchant Futures in Shenzhen.
"However, prices have already fallen below the costs of some mills and downside-room will remain limited. Prices are likely to fluctuate within a narrow range in the near future."
The most-traded rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 had edged down 0.6 percent to 2,249 yuan ($337.11) a tonne by the midday break. Iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 was trading nearly steady at 397 yuan a tonne.
Iron ore for delivery to China's Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI remained unchanged at $55.30 a tonne on Tuesday, according to The Steel Index. ($1 = 6.6715 Chinese yuan renminbi)