SHARES in Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, Japan's second-largest shipping line by sales, yesterday fell the most in three months after concerns about oil prices caused an index of commodity-transportation rates to tumble.

Mitsui OSK fell 4.8 percent to 1,440 yen (US$13.35) at the close of trade in Tokyo.

Nippon Yusen KK, Japan's largest shipping line, declined 4.6 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, the country's third-largest shipping line, dropped 5.6 percent, Bloomberg News reported.

Shipping prices for bulk commodities such as iron ore, coal and grain had their biggest tumble in more than two months on Wednesday, according to an index from the Baltic Exchange in London.

The fall was triggered by concerns that rising oil prices will impact on economic growth and because of grain shipment delays caused by striking Argentinean farmers.