Updates prices to market close

By Ruth Chai

SINGAPORE, May 15 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures dipped for a fourth straight session on Friday, weighed down by high port-side inventories in China, as investors focused on the talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 was down 0.67% at 809.5 yuan ($118.97) a metric ton. The contract has declined about 0.55% this week after four consecutive weeks of gains.

The benchmark June iron ore SZZFM6 on the Singapore Exchange was 1.13% lower at $109.35 a ton as of 0714 GMT. The contract has lost 1.02% so far in the week, heading for its first weekly drop in five.

The U.S.-China summit has been aimed at maintaining a fragile trade truce struck when the two leaders last met in October, with Trump suspending triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods, and Xi backed away from choking global supplies of vital rare earths.

In China, port-side inventories of BHP's BHP.AX Jimblebar fines, a type of iron ore, slid to a five-month low after Beijing ended a months-long dispute with the miner.

Stocks of Jimblebar fines, one of BHP's flagship products, at 15 major Chinese ports fell 3.1% from late April to 8.42 million tons, as of May 12, the lowest level since late December, said three traders with knowledge of the matter.

However, the inventory was still nearly five times higher than last September.

"Some steel mills had switched to the usage of other iron ore products, and they need to readjust their 'menu' for blended furnaces feedstock before buying more Jimblebar fines," an analyst said on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.

China urged the British government on Thursday to "make decisions prudently" over plans to nationalise British Steel, calling on it to "respect the wishes of firms and market principles, and avoid the abuse of administrative coercive measures."

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE fell, with coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 down 1.57% and 0.74%, respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange retreated. Rebar SRBcv1 fell 0.43%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 slipped 0.69%, stainless steel SHSScv1 dropped 0.06%, and wire rod SWRcv1 lost 1.2%

($1 = 6.8045 yuan)