North Dakota’s exports increased 15 percent, from $2.2 billion in 2009 to $2.5 billion in 2010, according to a newsletter from the U.S. Commercial Service in Fargo.

The state’s top exports in 2010 were front end shovel loaders, crude oil, and canola oil.

Canada continues to be North Dakota’s top export destination, with a record 62 percent of the state’s exports, worth $1.6 billion, going to Canada.

Exports of tractors and agricultural machinery dropped due primarily to significant sales decreases to the former Soviet Union countries of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. 

North Dakota maintained its position as the 44th largest exporter among the 50 states in 2010.

Britt Hestenes from the U.S. Commercial Service U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway visited North Dakota and Minnesota to conduct meetings and preliminary discussions with 15 companies and organizations interested in exporting to the Nordic markets of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, according to a newsletter from the U.S. Commercial Service in Fargo.

The meetings included customized market research and were in preparation for an October  North Dakota Trade Mission to the Nordic Countries .

Hestenes also presented a seminar on Doing Business in the Nordics at the Global Business Connections Conference in Fargo along with Food Export of the Midwest representative Sam Bessinger.

Companies with an interest in learning more about opportunities in the Nordic markets should contact Heather Ranck, an international trade specialist with the U.S. Commercial Service in Fargo, at: Heather.Ranck@trade.gov for a customized market assessment.