Ocean container spot freight rates on the Asia-North Europe trade closed in on its all-time low, declining almost 10 percent this week on the world’s largest shipping route.

The rate to ship a 20-foot container from Shanghai to Rotterdam fell $26 this week to $231, the second-lowest level since the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index was launched in 2009.

Although the decline slowed from the previous week’s 22.6 percent slide to $257 per TEU, the rate is expected to continue falling in the coming weeks and could drop below the record low of $205 per TEU reached in June 2015.

Carriers appear to be reluctant to continue discounting rates, with the exception of Maersk Line, which is said to be publishing rates below $200 per TEU, according to London-based Freight Investor Services.

“To add more pain to carriers, rates have also now been extended until the end of March, suggesting that the previously planned general rate increase that initially had been announced for March 1 and subsequently pushed back to March 15, will now not come into effect,” FIS said.

Spot freight rates fell 11.3 percent to $236 per TEU from Asia to the Mediterranean, 12 percent to the U.S. West Coast to $884 per 40-foot container and 9 percent to $1,804 per FEU on shipments from Asia to the U.S. East Coast.

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