State-owned Chinese raw materials buyer Sinosteel sees iron ore imports to China rising by 5 percent in 2010 to 660 million tons, the managing director at Sinosteel Germany, a wholly-owned and administrated subsidiary of Sinosteel, told an ore conference on local time Tuesday.

The world's top iron ore buyer was expecting it would raise its domestic production of the steelmaking feedstock to 960 million tons this year, a rise of 9 percent, Li Xianhong at Sinosteel Germany said at a Metal Bulletin iron ore conference.