Asia-Europe Container Rates Fall Almost 11 pct

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 10.7 percent to $1,198 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.

It was the second consecutive week of falling freight rates on the world's busiest route. Container freight rates have so far increased in 10 weeks this year but fallen in 23 weeks.

Average rates for 2014 are $1,278 per TEU compared with $1,090 last year. The comprehensive index fell 2 percent to $1,172 per TEU.

Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipper with nearly 600 container vessels and part of Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk, controls around one fifth of all transported containers from Asia to Europe.

Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen