The eighty-dollars-a ton iron ore prices in China these days are double what they were at the beginning of the year. That's partly due to rising demand, and China's supply-side reforms that have prompted steel mills to use high-quality iron ore. 

From 40 dollars a ton to 80, iron ore prices have been on a rising streak this year. A revived Chinese demand has boosted iron ore imports from Australia and Brazil.

The Tai Cang port in Jiangsu Province is the first stop on the Yangtze river for the commodities before their transit to inner China.

"We've unloaded 23 million tons of iron ore from January to October, up 2.3 percent from last year. We expect we would reach 28 million tons this year, that's a 4 percent increase from last year.  "said Zhang Mengqun, Gen.Man of Tai Cang port in Jiangsu.

Industry insiders say demand for high end iron ore has increased, as steel firms choose to improve their products.

"Once steel companies see their business improves, they want to use more high quality iron ore, because this will improve their profitability.  "said Gu Tianyi,business director of Tai Cang port in Jiangsu.

Fresh statistics show iron ore imports reached 80 million tons in October. That was up 7 percent on the year. That also brought imported iron ore to account for 80 percent of the market, from just 50 percent before. Experts say that due to low prices last year, many local producers have gone out of business.