Perdue AgriBusiness to invest over $59m to modernize soybean processing facility in Virginia
It is updating the facilities in order to increase production capacity for its high protein soybean meal, soybean oil, and hull output at the site.
Scott Fredericksen, president, Perdue AgriBusiness, said by renovating and expanding its Chesapeake operations, the company will be able to increase local origination and improve its processing capabilities to continue to meet customer demand.
Virginia successfully competed with Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania for the project, said its governor, Glenn Youngkin.
Perdue purchases 80% of Virginia’s soybeans and exports 72 million tons of soybeans per year through The Port of Virginia, he added, in an announcement on the expansion project on March 24.
“Perdue AgriBusiness is a valued employer in Chesapeake and a major contributor to Virginia farmers’ livelihoods, and we look forward to its continued growth trajectory with the modernization and expansion of this facility,” said Youngkin.
The Chesapeake facility also supplies crude degummed soybean oil to Perdue’s Salisbury, Maryland oil refinery for further processing and sales to the food industry as well as supplying the biodiesel industry globally.
“Virginia’s transportation infrastructure is essential to getting Perdue AgriBusiness’ soybeans and other high-oil content products where they need to go. The two Class I railroads, our interstate network, inland port, and barge service to Richmond enable cargo to move efficiently through the Port of Virginia,” commented Virginia's transportation secretary, Shep Miller. “Last year, while other ports around the country were riddled with supply chain issues, the Port of Virginia had its most productive fiscal year yet."
US soy crush operations
Perdue AgriBusiness is ranked among the largest grain companies in the US, with multiple elevator locations in addition to a deep-water port, oilseed crushing operations, edible oil refinery, protein blend mills, specialty crops expeller plants and organic edible oil refinery. It supplies both conventional and organic feeds, food, and biofuels markets.
As well as Chesapeake, Virginia, Perdue Oilseed owns and operates three other solvent extraction soybean crush plants on the Eastern Seaboard; those facilities are located in Salisbury, Maryland, in Cofield, North Carolina, and in Bainbridge, Pennsylvania. They supply bulk truck soy meal and soy hulls to the chicken, pork, aquaculture, and cattle feed industries in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US.
