Asia-N.Europe Box Rates Sag Almost 5 pct

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell 4.7 percent to $606 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, a source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters.

The shipping industry has been battling overcapacity linked to a glut of new vessels ordered during a boom period before the global financial crisis of 2007-2009.

In the week to Friday, container spot freight rates fell 0.5 percent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, fell 5.2 percent to ports on the U.S. West Coast and were down 3.8 percent to ports on the U.S. East Coast.

Maersk Line, the global market leader with a market share of around 15 percent and part of Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk, said last week its profit in the first quarter fell 95 percent from a year earlier to $37 million due to weak demand and record low freight rates.

Maersk controls around one fifth of all transported containers from Asia to Europe.

Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen