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Fertimanon Jan 08, 2014 11:50am
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Potash Sales in Sask are on par with last year.
Potash Sales in Sask are on par with last year. Saskatchewan headed to record breaking year in exports
First Posted: Jan 8, 2014 10:58am
Saskatchewan is on track to set all-time high records for exports.
The province exports surpassed $30.3 billion in the first 11 months of 2013, up 5.4 per cent from 2012. In only November, exports totaled $2.8 billion.
"We got our November (numbers) yesterday," said Lionel LaBelle, President & CEO of Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP)
"They are just a snap shot. We get the detail line by line in about seven or eight days."
LaBelle explained on John Gormley Live that most people were very curious where the potash industry would land.
"We've seen two things; a decrease in the Canadian dollar value but we've also seen the decrease in per ton. The reality is that our potash sales are actually on par with 2012," he said.
LaBelle added that the real standout industry was agriculture.
"Our wheat exports to the end of October were $1.7 billion. Our canola exports were $3.5 billion," he explained.
"Our lentil business is up 70 per cent our pea business is up 80 per cent to the end of October. When we get the November numbers in detail we suspect that that particular trend will continue."
He said the manufacturing industry is running ahead of 2012 and the lumber industry has taken a unique jump.
"I don't think I'm stepping out of line when I suggest that if you look at December numbers over the last four or five years there has always been strong representation," LaBelle said.
"I'm quite confident that we will eclipse $33 billion without an issue at all."
LaBelle said that in Saskatchewan the energy industry and "food" industry are parallel at around the $11 billion mark. Those industries are followed by potash, manufacturing, and uranium.
"Those five would add up to about 90 per cent of our exports," he said.