It’s turning into a cold world for U.S.-Mexico cross-border trade — but that’s a good thing for Canadian Pacific Kansas City.
The Calgary, Alberta-based railroad (NYSE: CP) announced an expansion of its strategic collaboration with temperature-controlled logistics Americold Realty Trust Inc. to formally explore co-development opportunities in Mexico for temperature-sensitive commodities moving between that country, the United States and Canada.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Americold (NYSE: COLD) and CPKC established a strategic collaboration in June 2023 to optimize temperature-controlled logistics across North America, the railroad said in a release. CPKC markets its single-line, expedited intermodal services utilizing a fleet of TempPro temperature-protected intermodal containers for door-to-door transit competitive with over-the-road trucks.
Americold operates 240 facilities in its global cold chain ecosystem connecting production, distribution and consumption for many of the largest food companies in the world, the release stated.
In June, Americold broke ground on a 335,000-square-foot, $127 million import-export hub at CPKC’s intermodal terminal in Kansas City, Missouri. The new facility will support both importers and exporters of temperature-sensitive food transiting between Mexico and the United States when it opens in mid-2025.
“Our strategic partnership with CPKC creates a platform that will deliver significant and sustainable supply chain value for existing and new customers in North America,” said George Chappelle, chief executive of Americold, in the release. “Exploring opportunities in Mexico is a natural continuation of this collaboration as we look at ways we can attack inefficiencies in the current cold chain.”
Keith Creel, CPKC president and CEO, in the release said the collaboration will leverage the company’s North American network in support of Americold’s cold storage supply chain.
“That network, combined with our premium intermodal services moving one of the largest fleets of refrigerated containers in the industry, and this growing collaboration with Americold, continues to create new transportation options for our customers shipping a range of food and other products across North America,” said Creel.
The railroad added 1,000 new 53-foot refrigerated intermodal containers to its network in 2023, more than doubling its existing fleet and bringing more options to customers using the expanding Mexico Midwest Express (MMX) premium intermodal service. MMX is North America’s first single-line rail service offering from the Midwest to Mexico for refrigerated shippers, a market primarily served by trucks.
The release stated that Americold plans to invest between $500 million and $1 billion over the next five to 10 years in development projects with CPKC and its other strategic partner, port terminal operator DP World of Dubai.
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