All major trade lanes experienced rate declines in the last week of January with Asia-Europe dropping for a third week to US$1,316 per TEU on February 1, down 0.8 per cent or $10 per TEU from the previous week, according to the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI).

SCFI Asia-Mediterranean rates also suffered, falling 1.2 per cent or $16 per TEU from previous week to $1,285 per TEU on February 1.

Transpacific trades encountered a downturn on both US east and west coasts trades. SCFI Asia-US west coast rates fell 0.9 per cent or $22 per FEU to $2,475 per FEU on February 1, while Asia-US east coast rates also shrank 0.7 per cent or $27 per FEU to $3,630 per FEU.

The comprehensive SCFI was down 0.7 per cent or 8.45 points to 1,219.39. This implies that global demand has been soft after the start of 2013.