Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSX and NYSE: CP) (CPKC) and Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: COLD) announced Thursday plans to formally explore co-development opportunities in Mexico as part of their continued strategic collaboration focused on optimizing temperature-sensitive commodity flows between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

A statement noted Americold and CPKC established a strategic collaboration in June 2023 to optimize temperature controlled logistics across North America. CPKC connects North American markets with single-line, expedited intermodal freight transportation and a fleet of TempPro temperature-protected intermodal containers for "door-to-door transit competitive with over the road trucks". Americold is a global player in temperature-controlled logistics and its cold chain ecosystem plays a role in the food supply chain connecting production, distribution and consumption for many of the largest food companies in the world.

In February of this year, Americold announced plans for its first development with CPKC at their Intermodal Facility in Kansas City, Mo., and broke ground on the 335,000-square-foot, $127 million import-export hub in June. The new facility is planned to open mid-2025 and will support both importers and exporters of temperature sensitive food between Mexico and the United States.

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. MMX is North America's first single-line rail service offering for refrigerated shippers from the Midwest to Mexico, a market currently served by trucks.

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 DP World.