The continuous rainstorms along the Yangtze River are likely push up steel prices in the short term but won't have much effect on the prices in the long run, one analyst said on Thursday as steel producers reported improving conditions at plants where production was negatively affected.

The rainstorms, which started at the end of June, have affected 23 million people in central China, causing direct economic losses of 38.2 billion yuan ($5.7 billion), according to statistics from Ministry of Civil Affairs.

A survey conducted by mysteel.com found that 17 steel smelters in Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces have been affected.

It found that a total of 37,250 cubic meters of production capacity were shut down and 21 steel rolling lines suspended. Daily production has been cut by 57,800 tons, representing 25 percent of output of the affected businesses.

The survey said most of the smelters have around 10 days stocks of raw materials. It said steel stocks have been rising due to the suspension of shipping and raw material supplies have not been very high.

A spokesman for Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp said production processes had been affected to different degrees, including its coking, sintering, puddling operations and the company's steel rolling lines were affected by a power blackout.

• [Editor:penny]