RABAT: Morocco's state grains agency ONICL has launched a tender to buy 163,500 tonnes of soft wheat from the local market, it said in a statement on Monday.

It is the first tender after the end of the import campaign which ran from Jan. 1 to April 30, when the government suspended customs duties for soft wheat imports to counter rising world prices.

ONICL will open the bids on June 17. The soft wheat is destined to make subsidised flour, ONICL added.

Copyright Reuters, 2014