How COVID-19 is affecting the bottom line in Sask.’s biggest industries – by Chelsea Laskowski (CBC News Saskatchewan – March 17, 2020)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/

Saskatchewan’s biggest industries are forging ahead with limited impact in the face of COVID-19, but are paying keen attention to its long-term effects. Potash and uranium mines are taking precautions with staff, but spokespeople with Nutrien and Cameco, the biggest players in both industries in the province, say there have been no disruptions to production.

Spring seeding hasn’t started in agriculture yet, but there are long-term repercussions that could hit next month. In the short term, oil has been the hardest hit.

Oil

Oil prices plummeted early last week. There were other factors causing the dip that were unrelated to coronavirus, but as the disease has spread there are new major pressures on the industry.

Airline flights across the world have been slashed and people are travelling less, which means less demand for fuel, said Brad Herald, vice-president of Western Canada operations for Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

“People look at their budgeting for kind of 2020 and beyond and a number of companies announced reductions in their capital spending almost immediately. We expect that pressure to continue,” he said.

For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/mining-farming-agriculture-potash-uranium-oil-covid-saskatchewan-1.5500689