The year-end figures on trade have just been released and they show Saskatchewan set a new record for the value of exports shipped to markets outside our borders.
The previous record of $35 billion – set in 2014 just before the end of the last big boom – was relegated to this history books with 2021 exports hitting a value of $37 billion.
In a news release recognizing the development, the Saskatchewan government’s trade ministry said the big gainers were mineral exports – that’s mainly potash – which tripled from 2020.
They were followed by energy products and forestry or building products. That last one was up 60 per cent and points to the timber industry asserting itself as a major player in our economy.
As a province with a large land mass and very small but productive population, we rely heavily on foreign markets to take our excess production as we have virtually no domestic consumer market with only a million people.
Setting a new record for exports points to an ever-rising degree of success in finding customers around the world.
