Nov 8 (Reuters) -Basis bids for corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals was steady to higher on Friday, while bids for soybean barge loadings were steady to lower, traders said.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 200,480 metric tons of U.S. corn to unknown destinations for delivery in the 2024/25 marketing year.

* USDA also reported private sales of 107,000 metric tons of soybeans to China and 132,000 tons of unknown destinations. Both are for delivery in the 2024/25 marketing year.

* Higher river levels is improving the velocity of barges loaded and moving to the Gulf, brokers said, which is increasing capacity, traders said.

* Empty barge freight costs along the lower Ohio River turned lower, while rates on the Illinois River turned higher on spot demand, brokers said. BG/US

* U.S. soybean futures reached a one-month peak on Friday and corn futures touched more than a four-month high after USDA lowered its U.S. harvest outlooks for both crops more than expected, traders said.

* CIF soybean barges loaded in November traded at 100 cents over Chicago Board of Trade November soybean SX24 futures. December and January loadings both traded at 84 cents and 85 cents over CBOT January soybean SF25 futures.

* CIF soybean barges loaded in November were bid at 85 cents over January futures, down 4 cents, while December loadings were bid down 2 cents at 83 cents over January futures.

* Soybean export premiums were steady, offered at 138 cents over futures for shipment either in the first or last half of November.

* CIF November corn barge bids were up 1 cent at 86 cents over CBOT December corn CZ24 futures, while December loadings were also up 1 cent, bid at 85 cents over futures.

* FOB Gulf offers for November corn shipments were steady at about 113 cents over futures.

Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi

For displays of CIF basis, click on the codes in brackets: U.S. CIF Gulf soybeans GRYM U.S. CIF Gulf corn GRYN U.S. CIF Gulf SRW wheat GRYO U.S. CIF Gulf HRW wheat GRYP
For displays of FOB basis, please click on the following codes in brackets: U.S. FOB Gulf corn GRZC U.S. FOB Gulf soybeans GRZD U.S. FOB Gulf SRW wheat GRZE U.S. FOB Gulf HRW wheat GRZF LINKS Corn prices page: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageid=corn-cash-market
Wheat prices page: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageid=wheat-cash-market
U.S. barge freight BG/US
U.S. export sales estimates USDA/EST
U.S. grain export summary GRA/U
Brazil soybean export prices SYBS
Brazil corn export prices SYBX
Argentina grain prices GRA/ARG
Russia grain prices GRA/RU