The latest Saskatchewan economic review included interesting economic stats for 2018:
Total crop production in 2018 was 34.6 million tonnes (up from 34.0
million in 2017), above the 10-year average of 31.2 million tonnes.
Wheat and canola contributed 73% of total production, wheat at 14.4
million tonnes and canola at 10.9 million tonnes.
China was Saskatchewan’s top export market for grains and oilseed, with a
value of $2.5 billion in 2018, up from $2.0 billion in 2017.
Similar to previous years, potash was Saskatchewan’s second largest mineral
export following crude oil, reaching $5.7 billion in sales, $0.9 billion higher
than in 2017. The United States, Brazil, China, and India accounted
for 80% of Saskatchewan’s potash exports.
Potash production increased by more than one million tonnes, to
13.8 million, in 2018 (from 12.6 million in 2017).
In 2018, Saskatchewan was the third largest natural gas producing
province in Canada, following Alberta and British Columbia, with
production of 5.2 billion cubic metres, a decrease of 0.1 billion
cubic metres from 2017.
For the first time, natural gas became Saskatchewan’s largest
source of power generation. Natural gas continues to grow in
importance, increasing from 19% of total electricity supplied in 2008
to 41% in 2018.
Sources
• Government of Saskatchewan. Economic Review 2018, Aug. 2019. https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/government-data/bureau-of-statistics/economic-reports-and-statistics.
• Natural Resources Canada. Natural Gas Facts, Aug. 2019. https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/natural-gas-facts/20067.
First published in the December 2019 edition of The Business Advisor.