PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The DeLong Company broke ground on its Agricultural Intermodal Export Facility on Thursday. The project will feature 15,000 metric tons of storage capacity, as well as infrastructure for truck and rail transport. It is expected to handle between 15,000 and 20,000 containers annually, primarily filled with grain products like soybeans. It will have the capability to receive unit trains and transload products into containers for export.
Company leaders stated that the facility's exports will primarily wind up in markets in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and China.
At home, the company expects the project to create dozens of jobs in Portsmouth and generate a ripple effect throughout the region.
“For the region, it really provides several different benefits. One is another grain bid for local farmers, which should translate into a higher value for their crops. The other thing it will provide is an export for the steamship lines — CMA among others," said Brandon Bickham, vice president of exports at the DeLong Company.
Local leaders share this optimism.
"Let's build a facility that feeds the world, empowers farmers, and puts Portsmouth on the map for agricultural trade," said Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover. "Can we? Yes, we can."
The DeLong Company chose Portsmouth not only for its deep-water port, but also for its prime location within a key agricultural hub.
The company shared in a press release that the facility "represents the largest investment to date in a container transloading facility on the East Coast and the first to have the ability to receive unit trains. This facility will also be the first to combine exports of locally grown products along with Midwest-originated grains and feedstuffs."
The DeLong Company invested $26 million into Phase 1 of the project. Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation added $750,000 with a Rail Infrastructure Access grant.
Phase 2 of the project is in development, the company shared, and that will expand storage and handling capacity as well as streamline movement to international markets.
The facility is expected to be operational by late 2025 to early 2026.
