Most commodities follow crude oil higher

Crude oil prices rose as high as $113.93 per barrel in New York on Tuesday, a new record, supported by supply disruptions and port closures in Mexico.

By early afternoon trade in New York, May contracts for West Texas Intermediate had eased back but were still $1.69 higher than Monday’s close at $113.45 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, Brent crude was up $1.73 to $111.57 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex May gasoline was up 4 cents to $2.86 per gallon at last report, while June heating oil had added 1 cent to $3.16 per gallon and May natural gas had gained 17 cents to $10.23 per million British thermal units.

At-the-pump prices for both gasoline and diesel hit new record highs in the United States.

Precious metals prices were higher.

June gold added $4 to $932.70 per troy ounce in early afternoon trade, while ay silver was up 4 cents to $17.83 per troy ounce and July platinum jumped $33.50 to $2,015.

Among base metals, May copper dropped 4 cents to $3.86 per pound.

Grains prices joined other commodities in gains, with corn and soybeans higher on an increase in demand on fears of food shortages as food prices rise and more grains go to produce biofuels.

There were also continuing worries that some crops will suffer planting delays due to wet weather in parts of the United States.

May corn on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 14 cents to $6.06 per bushel while CBOT May soybeans added 12 cents to $13.85 per bushel and May wheat gained 10 cents to $9.06 per bushel.

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