The bidding deadline is June 19. Origin was optional, traders said.

The grain is for the country's strategic reserves and finance is partly being provided by the World Bank's International Development Association, traders said.

A shipment date was not specified, but it will take place a month after the opening of a letter of credit on the purchase, a trader said.

This is the latest in a series of 35,000 tonnes wheat tenders issued by Ethiopia this year and financed by international aid agencies.

On May 25, the Ethiopian government purchased 35,000 tonnes of optional-origin milling wheat in a tender for the same volume which closed on May 15.