* China steel market remains "very, very slow" - CRU
* Dalian iron ore steady amid ample supply
* Iron ore shipments to China from Port Hedland hit record (Adds Port Hedland shipments to China, updates prices)
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, June 7 (Reuters) - Chinese steel futures edged up on Wednesday after a nine-day fall, although the outlook for demand in the world's top consumer remained weak.
The price recovery, which follows an 11 percent decline since May 22, may be technical in nature, said Richard Lu, analyst at CRU consultancy.
"We think the current market remains very, very slow. The recent price slump should make buyers hesitant to buy because the price can go down again so they just want to slow down purchases," he said.
The most-active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 closed up 0.7 percent at 2,962 yuan ($436) a tonne. The construction steel product touched a one-month low on Tuesday.
Construction activity usually eases in China during summer, curbing steel consumption.
On the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most-traded iron ore contract DCIOcv1 gained 0.1 percent to 432.50 yuan per tonne.
Supply of the steelmaking raw material remains high in China.
Imported iron ore at the country's ports reached 136.55 million tonnes as of June 2, only down slightly from the previous week's 136.6 million tonnes which was the most for the stockpiles since 2004, based on data compiled by SteelHome consultancy. SH-TOT-IRONINV
Last month, iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal, used by top suppliers BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) BHP.AX and Fortescue Metals Group FMG.AX , rose to a record 38 million tonnes from 34.86 million tonnes in April. iron ore prices regained some lost ground on Tuesday after falling to near eight-month lows in the previous day.
Iron ore for delivery to China's Qingdao port .IO62-CNO=MB rose 0.2 percent to $56.03 a tonne, according to Metal Bulletin.
($1 = 6.7926 Chinese yuan)