India's third-largest steel maker JSW Steel has raised flat steel prices, but lowered prices of long products, a senior company official said on Monday.

Prices for flat steel, that go in the making of automobiles and white goods, are up by 2-3 percent from the previous month, while prices for long products, which are mainly used in construction, stands lowered by 3-4 percent for August, said Jayant Acharya, director of sales and marketing at JSW.

Steel demand in India has come down owing to the global recession, but is still showing a growth of 5-6 percent as the demand for automobile and other goods is supporting the metal.

Prices may not go up much (in the coming months) owing to the weak monsoon, said Pawan Burde, senior research analyst at Angel Broking.

Steel demand could be slightly hurt by a weaker-than-usual monsoon as it could lower farm incomes and lead to drop in rural construction activities, analysts say. (Reporting by Ruchira Singh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

India