PSA International yesterday said it would acquire 60 per cent of a port facility in Canada, making its first foray into the country.

PSA said it has, through wholly owned subsidiary PSA Canada Holdings, 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 about 300km east of the Port of Vancouver, and is the only major privately owned industrial property in Canada where 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 close to British Columbia's major highways that serve much of the province's resource industries.

PSA group chief executive Tan Chong Meng 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.

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.