Nutrien’s U.S. investment is Carney’s critical failure, supply chain experts and industry say

Red potash is stored in a warehouse at Nutrien’s Cory Potash mine. The company says it assessed options across the Pacific Northwest before choosing Washington for its export terminal.

Nutrien Ltd.’s NTR-T decision to invest up to $1-billion in the U.S. for a new export terminal represents a failure of Ottawa’s trade diversification and critical minerals strategy, supply chain and industry advocates say.

On Wednesday, Saskatchewan-based fertilizer and agricultural giant Nutrien announced plans to build an export terminal with capacity for eight million tonnes of potash a year in Longview, Wash.

Should the investment be finalized, by 2031 more Canadian potash mined by Nutrien will be shipped to overseas markets via the U.S. than via Canadian ports.

“This is a failure,” said Heather Ex