(Corrects global iron ore production figure in 10th paragraph to 3.275 "billion" tonnes, not "million" tonnes)
* China iron ore futures up more than 1 pct
* China iron ore port stocks now highest since Dec 2014
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, July 26 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures in China rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday as steel prices stabilised, although a summer lull in construction and plentiful ore stocks at Chinese ports kept gains in check.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 was up 1.4 percent at 442 yuan ($66) a tonne by 0254 GMT after rising as far as 446.50 yuan.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, construction-used rebar SRBcv1 advanced 0.4 percent to 2,340 yuan a tonne.
The gains in iron ore futures follow a stabilisation in steel prices after a steep fall early last week, said Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau.
Positive signs for the steel market included upcoming production suspensions near eastern China's Hangzhou city, where the next G20 leaders' summit will be held in early September, as well as output cuts in Tangshan, Lau said.
Tangshan city in the top steel-producing province of Hebei has deepened mandated output cuts to improve air quality for a memorial day for a 1976 earthquake that killed at least 250,000 people.
The output cuts kicked off on July 12 but the pace has accelerated, traders said.
Firmer iron ore futures could support spot prices although slow physical trades may keep the spot benchmark well below $60 a tonne, traders say.
Amid lean construction activity in China in summer, iron ore stockpiles at the country's ports hit 105.65 million tonnes as of July 22, the most since December 2014, according to data tracked by SteelHome consultancy. SH-TOT-IRONINV
Global iron ore production will increase to 3.275 billion tonnes by 2020 from 3.149 billion tonnes this year, BMI Research forecasts, still driven by top producers Australia and Brazil, although the rate of growth has eased substantially amid depressed prices.
"This represents average annual growth of 0.1 percent during 2016-2020, significantly lower than average growth of 4.8 percent during 2011-2015," BMI said in a note.
Iron ore for delivery to China's Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI gained 0.2 percent to $55.80 a tonne on Monday, according to The Steel Index.
That was down from this year's peak of $68.70 reached in April, although the spot benchmark is still up 30 percent on year.
($1 = 6.6781 Chinese yuan)