Kansas City Southern’s (KCS) main businesses are Chemicals and Petroleum; Industrial and Consumer Products; Agriculture and Minerals; Energy; Intermodal; and Automotive.
In 2022, KCS had revenues of $3.37 billion, an increase of 14.4%, and achieved net earnings of $984 million, a growth of 86.7%, year-over-year.
Kansas City Southern
Canadian Pacific (CP) merged with KCS, which the U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved on March 15, 2023, and the combined «Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited» was created on April 14, 2023.
The combined company constitutes the only railroad serving Canada, Mexico and the United States.
KCS’s businesses are:
Chemicals and Petroleum
This commodity group includes products such as chemicals, plastics, petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas and refined petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel.
Kansas City Southern transports these commodities through its network and through interchanges with other rail carriers.
The refined fuels and liquefied petroleum gas commodity groups primarily supply Mexican demand.
In turn, chemicals and plastics are used in the automotive, housing and packaging industries, as well as in general manufacturing.
Industrial and consumer products
This product group includes forest products, as well as metals and scrap metal.
Forest products consist of shipments to and from paper and lumber mills in the wood-producing region of the southeastern United States that Kansas City Southern serves directly and indirectly through its various short line connections. The United States is a major source of pulp and scrap paper for Mexico that is shipped by rail through Kansas City Southern’s network.
Metals and scrap consist of shipments of flat steel and long products, as well as other minor ore movements such as iron, zinc and copper.
Most of the steel produced and metal ore mined in Mexico is consumed within Mexico.
Agriculture and minerals
The agriculture and minerals product group consists primarily of grains and food products.
U.S. grain export shipments and Mexican grain import shipments include primarily corn, wheat and soybeans.
Food products consist primarily of soybean meal, cereal flour, oils, distillers dried grains, corn syrup and sugar. Other shipments consist of a variety of products including ores, minerals, clay and glass used throughout North America.
Energy
The energy product group includes coal, frac sand, petroleum coke and crude oil.
Kansas City Southern hauls unit trains (trains that transport a single product from a source to a destination) of coal for electric generating plants in the central United States.
The coal originates in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and is interchanged with KCS in Kansas City, Missouri.
Intermodal
The intermodal freight transportation sector consists primarily of transporting freight containers or truck trailers on behalf of shipping lines, motor carriers and intermodal marketing companies with rail carriers acting as long-haul carriers.
In light of the importance of trade between Asia and North America, the Company believes that the Port of Lazaro Cardenas continues to be a strategically beneficial location for ocean carriers, manufacturers and retailers.
The Company also offers premium service to customers through its line from Dallas via the Meridian Speedway.
Automotive
KCS provides rail transportation to all facets of the automotive supply chain, including automakers, assembly plants and distribution centers throughout North America.
In addition, Kansas City Southern transports imported and exported finished vehicles to and from various countries through a distribution facility at the Port of Lazaro Cardenas.