Nov 1 (Reuters) -Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals through the end of the year were firmer on Friday on good demand, while deferred bids were mostly flat to weaker, traders said.

* Easing barge freight costs dragged nearby CIF values from multi-year highs this week. Strong demand, including from Chinese importers looking to secure supplies ahead of the January U.S. presidential inauguration, helped to stabilize prices late in the week, traders said.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday confirmed 330,000 metric tons of private U.S. soybean sales for shipment to China and undisclosed buyers.

* Longer term demand from China is unclear ahead of the U.S. presidential election next week, with both candidates expected to confront Beijing on trade.

* China's push to shift its food import sources since 2018 has put it in a better position to impose tit-for-tat tariffs on U.S. farm goods with less harm to its food security if trade friction with Washington flares.

* CIF soybean barges loaded in October were bid 3 cents higher at 106 cents over CBOT November SX24 futures. November barges traded at 106 cents over futures, up 3 cents from bids late Thursday.

* Soybean FOB offers held at 148 cents over futures for shipment in the first half of November and 142 cents over futures for last half shipment.

* CIF October corn barge bids were unchanged at 90 cents over CBOT December corn CZ24 futures and November bids were a penny higher at 89 cents over futures.

* FOB Gulf offers for November corn shipments unchanged at 120 cents over futures.

Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Shailesh Kuber

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