Export activity in Alberta resumed its ascent after a short-lived decline in July.

The value of Alberta’s merchandise exports climbed $55 million (+0.3%) to reach $18.7 billion in August.

Oil prices eased in August as WTI posted a monthly average of under US$100/bbl for the first time in six months. The impact of this on the value of energy exports was, however, mostly offset by robust production volumes. Overall, energy exports grew by $360 million (+2.4%) in the month but remained about 1.4% below the historic peak reached in June.

Meanwhile, the value of non-energy exports fell by $304 million (-7.8%), largely due to a sharp pullback in farm, fishing and intermediate food product exports (-18.9%).

Despite commodity prices being on a somewhat downward trajectory of late, they are still significantly above last year’s levels and are boosting export revenues across the country.

On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, national exports were up by $106.4 billion (+28.4% YTD) over the first eight months of the year. Every province posted gains during this timeframe, led by Alberta (+59.8% YTD), Ontario (+15.1% YTD) and Saskatchewan (+44.3% YTD).

Answer to the previous trivia question: Called Gigafactory Texas, Tesla’s manufacturing facility near Austin is approximately 15 city blocks long (1,166 metres). 

Today’s trivia question: What was the U.S. dollar value of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in 2021?