SINGAPORE - Chicago corn futures slid for a sixth consecutive session on Thursday, while soybean traded near one-week low as concerns over slowing demand and a delay in sealing a preliminary U.S.-China trade deal weighed on prices.

Wheat was largely unchanged after gaining in the previous two sessions.

The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was down 0.2% at $3.78 a bushel, as of 0253 GMT, having closed down 0.8% in the previous session when prices hit a Sept. 30 low of $3.77-1/2 a bushel.

Soybeans were trading unchanged at $9.27-1/2 a bushel, having closed 0.7% weaker on Wednesday when prices hit their lowest since Oct. 31. Wheat was down 0.1% at $5.16-1/2 a bushel, having closed up 0.3% in the previous session.

Market sentiment went sour after a senior official of the Trump administration told Reuters on Wednesday that a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign a long-awaited interim trade deal could be delayed until December as discussions continue over terms and venue.

"We are in a waiting game ahead of the signing," said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank.

"But mind you, swine fever will have an impact on China's soybean demand even if relations are normalised."

China's pig herd in September was 41.1% smaller than it was a year earlier, the agriculture ministry said last month, as a year-long African swine fever epidemic continued to slash the world's largest herd.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will issue its monthly supply and demand report on Friday.

The market is looking for a fresh indication on the size of this year's rain-disrupted corn and soybean crops.

The wheat market has been supported by expectations of lower production in the Southern Hemisphere.

Commodity brokerage INTL FCStone said a poll of its clients estimated Australia's 2019/20 wheat crop at 15.54 million tonnes, 19.1% lower than Australia's official estimate of 19.2 million tonnes.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn, soybean and soymeal futures contracts on Wednesday, and net buyers of soyoil and wheat futures, traders said.   

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

© Reuters News 2019