* No solid reason for Shanghai rebar to rise - analyst
* Billet prices up marginally, supporting rebar
* FMG shipments up 33 pct to 165.4 mln tonnes in fiscal 2015
SHANGHAI, July 23 (Reuters) - Shanghai rebar futures steadied on Thursday after a slump in the previous session, but analysts said the weak outlook for demand in China meant there was little room for real gains.
The most traded rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 were steady at 2,055 yuan ($331) a tonne after tumbling more than 3 percent on Wednesday.
"Spot prices have recovered a bit, but there are no signs of market fundamentals improving and sentiment is really fragile, so we don't expect any big rebound ahead," said Xia Junyan, an analyst with Everbright Futures in Shanghai.
Billet prices in the top steel-producing city of Tangshan rose 10 yuan to 1,760 yuan a tonne, traders said.
Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 trimmed early losses and were 0.14 percent lower at 354 yuan a tonne. The price hit its downside limit on Wednesday.
"Many steel mills lack sufficient orders and cash. Everyone is having a difficult life now," said an iron ore trader in Beijing.
However, big global miners are sticking to their expansion plans despite soft demand in the world's top consumer, China, which will weigh on prices of the raw material.
Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX hit the high end of its forecast for iron ore shipments in fiscal 2015, and said it planned to maintain a similar rate in the current year. ID:nL3N10304J
Combined output from Australia's mines should come close to 800 million tonnes this year, based on forecasts from companies, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the global seaborne market.
Iron ore for immediate delivery to China's Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI dropped 1.4 percent to $50.7 a tonne on Wednesday, the biggest decline in two weeks, according to Steel Index. It has tumbled 40 percent this year.
Rebar and iron ore prices at 0407 GMT
Contract
Last
Change Pct Change SHFE REBAR JAN6
2055
+2.00
+0.10 DALIAN IRON ORE DCE DCIO JAN6
354
-0.50
-0.14 THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX
50.7
-1.40
-2.69 METAL BULLETIN INDEX
51.76
-0.34
-0.65
Dalian iron ore and Shanghai rebar in yuan/tonne Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day ($1 = 6.2096 Chinese yuan)