Asia-Europe Container Freight Rates Fell 6.5 pct

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 6.5 percent to $938 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended Friday, a source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters.

It was the fourth consecutive week of falling freight rates on the world's busiest route. Container freight rates have so far increased two weeks this year but fallen for five.

In the week to Friday, container freight rates fell 6.1 percent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, fell 11.3 percent to ports on the U.S. West Coast and were down 2.0 percent to ports on the U.S. East Coast.

Maersk Line, the global market leader with more than 600 container vessels and part of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, posted better than expected results this week and said it had brought down unit costs by 4.3 percent.

The Danish shipping company controls around one fifth of all transported containers from Asia to Europe.

 

Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen