Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures closed flat to slightly lower on Tuesday as traders awaited the signing of a US-China Phase 1 trade deal on Wednesday that could reopen China's giant market to US agricultural exports.

CBOT March soyabeans settled unchanged at $9.42-1/4 per bushel while deferred contracts closed fractionally lower. CBOT March soyameal ended down $1.80 at $302 per short ton while March soyaoil finished up 0.12 cent at 34.07 cents per pound.

CBOT January soyabean, soyameal and soyaoil futures contracts expired quietly at 12:01 p.m. CST (1801 GMT). The US-China trade pact may allow the two sides to start resolving their trade war, which led to a massive cut in exports of US soyabeans, corn and other farm products to China.

Reports say China has agreed to hugely increase US food and farm product imports, but the text of the proposed agreement has not been released, leaving markets uncertain.

The US Department of Agriculture said private exporters sold 120,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to unknown destinations for delivery in the 2020/21 marketing year that begins September 1, 2020. China's soyabean imports in December surged 67% from a year earlier to a 19-month-high, customs data showed, as a flurry of US and Brazilian cargoes booked earlier cleared customs.