SINGAPORE - Corn futures advanced as adverse weather continued to threaten crops around the world, tightening global supply.

May-delivery corn climbed 0.4 percent to $7.095 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 2:08 pm Singapore time on Tuesday. The grain may surge to a record in the first half and be the best-performing agricultural commodity as increased government purchases help to "inflame" the market, Vijay Iyengar, managing director at Agrocorp International Pte, said in Singapore on Monday.

"As the global economy recovers with steady growth, the crop prices may remain at historically high levels for a number of years," Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte, said on Tuesday.

Bloomberg News

(China Daily 02/16/2011 page16)