Iron ore futures in China dropped further from a 14-month high on Tuesday as steel prices faltered, reflecting renewed pessimism about the glut-hit market.

Weak futures could drag down spot iron ore prices for a fifth consecutive day as last week's massive rally fizzled.

The most-traded May iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down down 4.84 percent at 413 yuan ($63.44) a ton by 3 pm Beijing time, just off the session low of 416 yuan.

The contract peaked at 454 yuan on Monday, its strongest since January 2015, before ending lower.

"The recent rally continues to unwind as a weak Chinese steel market keeps buyers on the sidelines," ANZ Bank said in a note.

Chinese spot steel prices have fallen in the aftermath of last week's surge to multi-month highs as weekend data showed China's crude steel output dropped 5.7 percent year-on-year to 121.1 million tons in the January-February period.

Bids for physical iron ore cargoes in China are likely to ease further, traders say, suggesting more losses ahead for the steelmaking commodity that soared by a record 19.5 percent on March 7.