SYDNEY - Australia’s fastest growing iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has put the brakes on further expansions, saying steel production in China has peaked. The world’s fourth-biggest iron ore miner, which has criticised larger rivals for ramping up output despite soft demand and slumping prices, reported shipments of 165.4 million tonnes in fiscal 2014/15, up 33 percent on a year earlier. While lower-cost miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto still plan production increases, Fortescue chief executive Nev Power said the miner which first began producing in 2008 would now hold output steady. “We’re choosing to maintain our production at about 165 million tonnes a year to maximise our margin,” Power said. “We don’t see any point in driving additional production into a market that’s already fully supplied.” China’s steel output fell by 1.4 percent month-on-month in June and by 0.8 percent year-on-year, according to the World Steel Association. “We expect further monthly falls in China’s steel output in the second half, not least in response to prices falling to new lows in recent weeks,” said Caroline Bain, senior commodities economist for Capital Economics. Iron ore prices  have slumped from $190 a tonne four years ago to barely $50 today, and some analysts tip prices could drop to $38 before year end as Chinese demand wanes and supply continues to grow. With most of its mine construction completed, Power said Fortescue, which still has net debt of $7.2 billion, could mine the same amount of iron ore in the current 2015/16 year for $1.4 billion less than last year. This meant Fortescue could sustain a break-even cost of production at $39 a tonne. That is higher than Rio Tinto and BHP, but below smaller producers, such as Atlas Iron and Arrium which have been driven near-bankrupt by the collapse in price. Power said growth estimates for Chinese steel production had been overstated. “Up until even 12 to 18 months ago… some of the big miners were talking up 1 billion to 1.1 billion tonnes of steel demand in China,” he said. “But in fact it’s plateaued at the 800 million-tonne mark.” Australian ore has also boosted its share of the Chinese market by knocking out high-cost local producers, but Power said this trend had now run its course, leaving importers to contend with 150-200 million tonnes of domestic production. BHP pushed fiscal 2015 production to a record 254 million tonnes and intends to drive output another 7 percent higher this year. Rio last week unveiled a sharp rise in quarterly output and is targetting 340 million tonnes of annual production. Brazil’s Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore miner, is spending $16.5 billion on mine expansion work.