BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China's container transport for export purposes contracted last month due to the lack of demand, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.

The average China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) fell to 830.81 in March, down 6.3 percent from the previous month, the exchange said.

The index averaged 853.28 for the first three months of 2019.

Sub-indexes for many routes went down in March. The sub-index for the Mediterranean route showed the largest decline of 9.4 percent from February, followed by that for South America route, which dropped by 9 percent.

The CCFI tracks spot and contractual freight rates from Chinese container ports for 12 shipping routes across the globe, based on data from 20 international carriers.

The index was set at 1,000 on Jan. 1, 1998.