* Iron ore has dropped 10 pct in October, at lowest since July
* Shanghai rebar falls to all-time low
* Hard-hit China steel mills offer hope for India's iron ore (Adds Indian iron ore miners, updates futures)
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Iron ore, after breaching $50 a tonne this week for the first time since July, is headed to close the month with its worst October showing in four years as a global glut overwhelmed a market hit by slowing Chinese steel demand.
Vale VALE5.SA , Rio Tinto RIO.AX RIO.L and BHP Billiton BHP.AX BLT.L - the world's biggest and lowest cost iron ore producers - all reported increased output and shipments in the September quarter this month, shrugging off worries over mounting global supply.
"It is inevitable to see iron ore prices head lower so to produce more is a reasonable solution to ensure their revenue," said Wang Li, analyst at CRU Group in Beijing, on the continued strong output by the top miners.
Iron ore for delivery to China's Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI fell 1 percent to $49 a tonne on Thursday, its lowest since July 9, according to The Steel Index (TSI).
The price of the steelmaking ingredient has fallen nearly 10 percent so far in October. That puts it on course for its steepest October decline since 2011 when it tumbled 31 percent.
The drop in the spot benchmark to below $50 a tonne curbed buying interest for physical cargoes, TSI said, "with further falls in iron ore port stock prices in China further deterring buyers."
The amount of imported iron ore stocked at China's ports reached 83.95 million tonnes on Oct. 23, the highest since late May, according to data tracked by consultancy SteelHome. SH-TOT-IRONINV
Indian iron ore miners resuming exports after a three-year hiatus face a radically altered market, but may find buyers for low-quality ore among loss-making Chinese steel mills bent on slashing costs. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12L2IL
On Friday, the most-traded January iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 closed up 1.5 percent at 362.50 yuan ($57) a tonne after touching a three-month low of 355 yuan on Thursday.
January rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 slipped 0.6 percent to end at 1,782 yuan a tonne, after hitting a record low of 1,779 yuan.
China's chronic overcapacity has helped drag steel prices even as the government tries to cut that. President Xi Jinping said the country has reduced capacity in its steel industry by 77.8 million tonnes. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N12L55Y
Baoshan Iron and Steel Corp 600019.SS , China's largest listed steel producer, has no further plans to cut production following the closure of its 550,000-tonne per annum Baotong plant, a company official said on Thursday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12T2HN
Rebar and iron ore prices at 0715 GMT
Contract
Last
Change Pct Change SHFE REBAR JAN6
1782
-11.00
-0.61 DALIAN IRON ORE DCE DCIO JAN6
362.5
+5.50
+1.54 SGX IRON ORE FUTURES DEC
46.05
+0.86
+1.90 THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX
49
-0.50
-1.01 METAL BULLETIN INDEX
49.65
-0.30
-0.60
Dalian iron ore and Shanghai rebar in yuan/tonne Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day ($1 = 6.3252 Chinese yuan)