The DeLong Co, a US exporter of containerised agricultural products, has begun work on its new export facility in Portsmouth, Virginia.
The new intermodal facility was scheduled for completion in early 2026 and would be the first on the East Coast able to receive unit trains and transload agricultural products directly into export containers, the company said on 30 May.
Developed in partnership with the Port of Virginia, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, the CSX Railyard and the City of Portsmouth, the US$26M project would offer 15,000 tonnes of storage and would handle containers at a rate of 15,000–20,000/year, DeLong said.
Whole grains and feedstuffs sourced from local producers and the Midwest would be received by truck and rail, then shipped overseas via the Port of Virginia, with primary export markets including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and China.
Key commodities handled would include soyabeans, corn, wheat, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGs) and soyabean meal.
“This project represents a major step in strengthening the economic, agricultural and logistical landscape of Virginia and the greater East Coast to Midwest corridor,” said DeLong vice president of exports Brandon Bickham.
Phase 2 of the Portsmouth facility was currently in planning and would further expand storage and throughput capacity, the company said.
Headquartered in Clinton, Wisconsin, DeLong operates in over 39 US locations with a network of grain elevators providing grain handling and storage facilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Michigan, New Jersey and New York states.
It buys, stores and sells corn, soyabeans and wheat from local farmers and ships them to domestic millers and livestock feeders across the USA and worldwide.
