Asia-Europe Box Rates Plunge 32 pct

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell 31.8 percent to $674 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange told Reuters.

 

The drop came after spot freight rates on the world's busiest route soared 328 percent last week as shipping companies implemented scheduled rate hikes with effect from Nov 1.

 

In the week to Friday, container freight rates fell 19.7 percent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, fell 19.1 percent to ports on the U.S. West Coast and were down 14.4 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, reported a 61 percent drop in net profit in the third quarter on Friday. The Danish shipping company controls around one fifth of all transported containers from Asia to Europe.

 

Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen