Spot rates for shipping containers from Asia to northern Europe fell 39.3 per cent to US$409 per TEU in the week ended on Friday after falling 31 per cent to $674 the week before, according to Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI), according to Reuters.

The rate is now less than half what it was just two weeks ago when rates in the last week of October skyrocketed, as some carriers appeared to gain some of their general rate increases (GRI) on November 1.

On the Asia-Med run, rates fell 37.2 per cent in the week ending Friday to $406 per TEU after falling 20 per cent the week before to $646.

The spot rate to the US west coast fell 8.4 per cent to $1,009 per FEU and were 9.0 per cent down to US east coast to $1,834 per FEU.