CPKC, Americold to explore co-development projects in Mexico

Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Americold Realty Trust Inc. today announced plans to formally explore co-development opportunities in Mexico as part of their continued strategic collaboration to optimize temperature-sensitive commodity flow between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Americold plans to invest between $500 million and $1 billion over the next five to 10 years on development projects with CPKC and its other strategic partner DP World, according to a CPKC press release.

CPKC and Americold established their strategic collaboration in 2023. In February of this year, Americold announced plans for its first development with CPKC at the intermodal facility in Kansas City, Missouri, and broke ground on the 335,000-square-foot, $127 million import-export hub in June. That facility is slated to open in mid-2025 and will support importers and exporters of temperature-sensitive food between Mexico and the United States.

Exploring opportunities in Mexico is a natural continuation of the Americold collaboration with CPKC, said Americold CEO George Chappelle in the release. Added CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel: "We are excited to build on our successful strategic collaboration with Americold with new facilities in Mexico as we leverage the unrivalled reach of our North American network to support the cold storage supply chain."

Last year, CPKC announced the addition of 1,000 new 53-foot refrigerated intermodal containers to its network, more than doubling CPKC's existing fleet and bringing more shipping options to customers using the expanding Mexico Midwest Express (MMX) premium intermodal service.