Spot rates for shipping containers from Asia to northern Europe jumped 88.2 per cent to US$1,312 per TEU in the week ended on Friday, according to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI), Reuters reports.

The increase reversed the weekly declines that have lasted the past 12 weeks and saw rates drop to a yearly low of $697 per TEU, well below the widely accepted $1,000 per TEU break even point.

Maersk Line, the global market leader with nearly 600 container vessels and part of Danish oil and shipping group AP Moller-Maersk, has already announced a $900 rate hike effective November 1.

In the week to Friday, rates increased 51.3 per cent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, but fell 5.7 per cent to ports on the US west coast and were down by 1.7 per cent to ports on the US east coast.