Corn gains on concerns over flood-damaged crops

Other commodities traded mixed, with crude oil, silver and copper falling and wheat and soybeans moving higher.

Devastating flooding in the Midwest has taken a toll on corn, with 12 percent of the U.S. crop--or about 3 million acres--in poor to very poor condition, up from 9 percent last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly crop progress report.

"It's a big number. Having 3 million acres in poor condition sure hurts the national yield," said Jason Ward, analyst with Northstar Commodity in Minneapolis.

The damage to cornfields in Iowa and elsewhere helped send corn prices higher Tuesday, with the July contract gaining 9.75 cents to settle at $7.425 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices for the December new crop rose 11 cents to settle at $7.76 a bushel.

Still, it was the first in nine trading days that corn didn't spike to a new intraday record, suggesting that investors believe the worst of the flooding may be past.

Other agriculture commodities also rose Tuesday. Soybeans for July delivery gained 24 cents to settle at $15.58 a bushel on the CBOT, while July wheat added 21.75 cents to settle at $8.9825 a bushel.

Corn prices have nearly doubled in the past year amid rocketing global demand to feed livestock and make biofuel.

Record-high corn prices mean consumers can expect higher prices for beef, pork and chickens as livestock owners are forced to thin their herds and flocks to cope with rising corn-based animal feed costs.

It's also another blow for struggling U.S. ethanol makers, who are spending almost as much for their raw material as they're getting for their finished product. Corn is the main feedstock for ethanol in the United States.

Citigroup analyst David Driscoll last week advised investors to sell shares of publicly traded ethanol producers such as VeraSun Energy Corp. and BioFuel Energy Corp., driving their shares sharply down.

Several smaller ethanol producers have to begun idle plants until corn prices fall, Ward said.

"It's all a function of price. The ethanol price right now is not high enough to support the high price of corn," Ward said.

In energy markets, crude oil ended lower Tuesday for the third straight day as investors weighed expectations of higher output against the market's ability to quench soaring global demand.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 60 cents to settle at $134.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Other energy futures also fell. July gasoline futures fell 2 cents to settle at $3.4179 a gallon and heating oil futures slipped 0.52 cents to settle at $3.8222 a gallon.

In precious metals, gold futures edged higher after the dollar weakened against the euro, encouraging investors to buy the metal as a hedge against inflation. Gold for July delivery rose 60 cents to settle at $886.90 an ounce on the Nymex.

Other precious metals traded lower Tuesday. July silver fell 15.7 cents to settle at $17.075 an ounce on the Nymex, while July copper fell 1.6 cents to settle at $3.6495 a pound.