RICHMOND—A brand-new export facility in Portsmouth will further enhance collaboration among The Port of Virginia, CSX and The DeLong Co. Inc.

That was the take-away of an April 22 panel discussion titled “Port of Virginia—Growing Virginia Agricultural Exports.” during the 16th annual Virginia Agricultural Trade Conference.

DeLong is a sixth-generation family-owned agriculture business based in Clinton, Wisconsin. Its vice president of exports, Brandon Bickham, announced that DeLong has partnered with CSX to build a $26 million containerized agricultural export facility at a former CSX site in Portsmouth.

Containerized agricultural export facilities are designed to efficiently handle and ship agricultural products such as grains and feedstuffs in shipping containers for international export.

The Portsmouth facility will provide row crop farmers with over 500,000 bushels of storage capacity, along with buildings for truck and rail receiving.

Bickham said once the Portsmouth facility is completed in 2026, the company will operate a total of 40 facilities in the Midwest, Northeast and Virginia.

“Importers are starting to choose East Coast ports due to factors like reduced transit times, lower costs and improved reliability,” he explained.

Intermodal transportation—using at least two modes of transportation to move freight—is helping shippers across the country realize immediate and long-term benefits, including securing access to capacity and lower freight transportation costs.

One reason to build the new container facility in Portsmouth is its close proximity to The Port of Virginia.
The port is the deepest and widest on the East Coast, said Anthony Kelly, agriculture accounts manager for the port. Container ships from the port can reach 75% of the U.S. population in just two days.

Agricultural exports account for more than 50% of exports out of the port. Many of those commodities are shipped by rail via CSX, said Randy Marcus, director of state relations for the rail company in Virginia, West Virginia and Washington.

CSX encompasses 20,000 miles of rail across 26 states. Agriculture and food products make up 19% of CSX’s $14.7 billion revenue stream. Fforest products make up 12% of its revenue, so agriculture and forestry combined account for nearly one-third of CSX’s revenue.

Media: Contact Bickham at 608-676-2255; or Marcus at 804-226-7484.