SINGAPORE - PSA International on Tuesday (July 31) said it would acquire 60 per cent of a port facility in Canada, making its first foray into Canada.

PSA said it has, through its wholly owned subsidiary PSA Canada Holdings Ltd, signed an investment agreement with Ashcroft Terminal (AT) to acquire 60 per cent of the business in Western Canada.

AT is an inland port facility located about 300 kilometres east of the Port of Vancouver, and is the only major privately owned industrial property in Canada where both Class 1 railroad lines - including Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway - run through. The rail network allows for transporting import and export cargoes across Canada, and as far as to Chicago and other North American markets. AT is also located close to the major highways of British Columbia that serve much of the province's resource industries.

Tan Chong Meng, group CEO of PSA, noted the terminal's "strategic location", saying PSA would partner shipping lines, rail operators and trucking companies to implement a more "robust, efficient and cost-effective" supply chain solution for major exporters in Western Canada.

"Ashcroft Terminal is PSA's first foray into Canada and offers us an entry point into the hinterland supply chain for the North American market, as well as an opportunity to increase our capabilities in intermodal and inland container depot operations," he said in a media statement.

A recently announced C$28 million (S$29.2 million) upgrade will boost AT's inland port and container handling capabilities, with the terminal due to receive a new rail link to the CN main line, additional rail track of existing infrastructure, an internal road system and a multi-commodity storage facility, PSA added.