Americold Realty Trust (Americold) will invest up to C$80 million to develop its first Import-Export Hub in Canada at Port Saint John. The project is said to “bring together Americold warehouse solutions with the maritime logistics capabilities of DP World and the rail logistics solutions of Canadian Pacific Kansas City” (CPKC).
The new cold storage facility for food products will primarily serve to connect Central and Eastern Canada and Europe, South America, and the APAC region, according to Americold’s Jan. 28 announcement. Approximately 22,000 pallet positions will be provided at the Port.
Prior to Canadian Pacific’s (CP) merger with Kansas City Southern forming CPKC, CP regained access to Port Saint John with its 2020 acquisition of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway—Railway Age’s 2016 Regional Railroad of the Year—which linked CP directly to the Atlantic Ocean port of Searsport, Maine, and to Port Saint John in New Brunswick through connections with Eastern Maine Railway and New Brunswick Southern Railway, subsidiaries of NBM Railways’.
“Developing a state-of-the-art facility in Port Saint John marks an exciting step forward for Americold as the company expands into a strategically compelling geography serving high-volume international routes, providing unparalleled opportunities for integration with our premier partners in DP World and CPKC,” Americold CEO George Chappelle said. “Port Saint John has been the beneficiary of significant investments in recent years from both DP World and CPKC, and the infrastructure they have built has attracted major global shipping lines to this location. We are confident the opportunity for Americold to bring world-class cold storage and value-added services to the Port … represents an attractive path to long-term value creation for both our customers and our shareholders.”
“We are excited to build on our successful strategic collaboration with Americold and DP World with this new facility in Port Saint John as we build a unique North American cold chain,” commented Keith Creel, President and CEO of CPKC. “Our growing collaboration with Americold, which started in Kansas City and is developing in both Canada and Mexico, continues to bring new supply chain solutions to the market for our customers shipping a range of food and other products across Canada, the United States, and Mexico using CPKC’s fleet of refrigerated containers. Our strategic purchase of the Central, Maine & Quebec Railway and our operational success working with JD Irving’s NBM Railways has extended our reach to Port Saint John and put another value-creating destination on the CPKC map.”
“Our partnership with Americold and CPKC to develop an innovative cold chain Import + Export Hub at Port Saint John in New Brunswick reflects our shared commitment to transforming supply chain efficiency and sustainability,” DP World Canada CEO Doug Smith said. “This investment by Americold represents a significant milestone in our joint mission to create seamless, end-to-end logistics solutions that meet the evolving needs of global trade. By leveraging the strengths of our strategic partners, we are enhancing the cold chain infrastructure in Central and Eastern Canada, enabling faster, more reliable, and sustainable connections for food supply chains worldwide.”
“Our extensive infrastructure investments over the past decade have paved the way for leading global partners to thrive in Saint John,” added Craig Bell Estabrooks, President and CEO of Port Saint John. “We’re thrilled to welcome Americold and further opportunities to create jobs on our waterfront.”
Up to 100 jobs are expected to be created by the end of 2029.
Further Reading:
- CPKC, Americold Eye Co-Development in Mexico
- Americold Breaks Ground on First Cold Storage Facility at CPKC Terminal
- Americold Kicks Off Collaboration With CPKC
- CPKC, Americold Partner on Cold Storage Facility Co-Location Initiative
- For New Brunswick, C$82MM in Supply Chain Investment
- For CP, Hapag-Lloyd, Additional Call Into Port Saint John
- For CP, Hapag-Lloyd, Additional Call Into Port Saint John
- CP: “We’re Back” on the Atlantic Ocean
