Chinese steel industry officials plan to investigate a recent spate of record monthly iron ore imports, the China Iron and Steel Association said Thursday.

The association's deputy secretary-general, Qi Xiangdong, confirmed investigations were under way, but declined to provide further details.

Secretary-general Shan Shanghua, an advocate for a heavily fragmented industry, has blamed global miners for the high level of imports, which is threatening steel prices and the pace of China's economic recovery.

He told Chinese media Wednesday that, other than small mills, the "Big Three" miners - referring to Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO), Rio Tinto Plc (RTP) and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) - were importing iron ore into China themselves even though no large mill was buying the ore.

"The amount of ore that small mills buy can't be enough that it would result in such large import levels," he said. "This sort of import volume fakes the level of demand in our country, and it's not good for the iron ore price talks."

-By Chuin-Wei Yap and Juan Chen, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 6588 5848; chuin-wei.yap@dowjones.com, juan.chen@dowjones.com