Asia-Europe Container Freight Rates Fall 6.6%

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 6.6 percent to $1.055 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters.

Container freight rates on the world's busiest route have so far increased in 11 weeks this year but fallen in 26 weeks.

Average rates for 2014 are $1,258 per TEU compared with $1,090 last year. The comprehensive index fell 5.7 percent to $1,069 per TEU.

Maersk Line, the global market leader with nearly 600 container vessels and part of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, was one of the few container shipping companies to make a profit in the first six months this year.

(Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)