Canadian National (CN) has announced a C$125-million investment in rail infrastructure, which will provide diversified miner Teck Resources with the rail capacity to match the upgrades under way at Neptune Terminals, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
CN and Teck on Wednesday announced a long-term rail agreement, which would result in significantly increased shipping volumes of steelmaking coal from the Kamloops operations, to Neptune Terminal.
Teck CEO Don Lindsay said that the agreement – the terms of which were confidential – would lower its transportation costs, while the associated infrastructure investment would improve overall rail and terminal performance.
The agreement would run from April 2021 to December 2026.
“CN is proud to sign this agreement with Teck and to be playing such a significant role in moving the steelmaking coal from Kamloops to the last mile at Neptune Terminals on Vancouver’s north shore,” said CN president and CEO JJ Ruest.
“This significant volume commitment from Teck is further proof of CN’s ability to serve our customers into Canada’s trade gateway on the west coast. This agreement also further enhances CN’s role as a supply chain enabler for Teck’s shipments into Neptune Terminals.”
Neptune Terminals has capacity to handle more than 24-million tonnes a year of bulk products. With the completion of terminal improvement projects, capacity at the terminal will increase to 30-million tonnes a year.