Corn prices stall VeraSun ethanol plant

VeraSun Energy Corp., the second-largest U.S. ethanol producer by capacity, has delayed the opening of a 110-million-gallon-a-year distillery in Hankinson, N.D., because of rising corn prices. The plant is the third that the Brookings, S.D.-based company has delayed. "They're looking at very expensive corn right now. Ethanol prices have increased, but they need to increase more as corn and natural gas" have each climbed, said Joseph Gomes Jr., an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. in New York. VeraSun stock rose 13 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $4.11 in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares have fallen 69 percent in the past year.