The DeLong Co., Inc., in collaboration with the Port of Virginia, CSX, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, and the City of Portsmouth, has broken ground on a new agricultural intermodal export facility in Portsmouth, Virginia. The groundbreaking ceremony on May 29 included representatives from local, state, and federal government, including U.S. Representative Bobby Scott and Virginia Secretaries Matt Lohr and Shep Miller.
Scheduled for completion in early 2026, the $26 million facility will be the first on the East Coast capable of receiving unit trains and transloading agricultural goods directly into export containers. It will offer 15,000 metric tons of storage and handle 15,000 to 20,000 containers annually. Commodities such as soybeans, corn, wheat, DDGs, and soybean meal will be sourced from local and Midwest producers and shipped overseas via the Port of Virginia.
The facility’s export capacity is projected at 500,000 metric tons annually, with key markets including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and China. The site, leased from CSX, will be operated solely by The DeLong Co., which was named the Port of Virginia’s 2024 Shipper of the Year.
The project includes support from a $750,000 Rail Infrastructure Access (RIA) grant from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. Phase 2 of the development is already in planning and will further expand storage and throughput.
Headquartered in Clinton, Wisconsin, The DeLong Co. operates over 39 locations and is the largest U.S. exporter of containerized agricultural products, bringing more than a century of industry expertise to the East Coast.
