Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) – Evergreen Marine Corp., Asia’s biggest container line, posted a third straight quarterly loss as slumping world trade hammered shipping rates.

The NT$1.98 billion ($60 million) net loss in the three months ended June compared with a profit of NT$829 million a year earlier. The number was derived from first-half results announced by the Taipei-based company today. The figure beat the median estimate for a NT$3.39 billion loss in a survey of five analysts.

Evergreen, Hanjin Shipping Co. and China Shipping Container Lines Co. have slumped to losses this year as U.S. and European consumers cut spending on Asian-made goods because of job concerns. At the same time, the global container fleet will likely expand 9.8 percent in 2009, according to data provider AXS-Alphaliner, as shipyards deliver vessels ordered during a trade boom that ended last year.

“There’s just too many new ships coming,” said Stone Lin, a Taipei-based analyst at Yuanta Securities Co., who has a “sell” rating on Evergreen. “Overcapacity will continue to be a problem next year.”

Evergreen’s second-quarter sales plunged 28 percent to NT$4.09 billion, according to monthly filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Revenue from affiliates and subsidiaries is counted separately. The group operates about 170 ships with a combined capacity of 615,000 standard 20-foot boxes.

The shipping line fell 0.5 percent to close at NT$19.9 in Taiwan Stock Exchange trading today, before the announcement. The stock has climbed 29 percent this year, compared with the 49 percent gain in the benchmark Taiex stock index.

First-Half Loss For the first half, Evergreen Marine posted a loss of NT$4.71 billion, compared with a profit of NT$1.2 billion a year earlier, the company said in a Stock Exchange filing today.

Evergreen and 13 other shipping lines agreed to attempt to renegotiate Asia-U.S. shipping contracts to include higher rates from earlier this month in a bid to pare losses. Average revenue per forty-foot container sank as much as $1,200 from October to May on the route, according to the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, which represents the lines.

Container lines have also mothballed ships and combined routes to cut capacity in an attempt to increase rates. Global trade may shrink 10 percent this year, the most since World War II, according to the World Trade Organization.