Minnesota farms, factories and mines exported a record $21.4 billion worth of goods in 2014 amid a surge of orders from Mexico and Japan, state officials said Friday.
Total exports jumped 2.9 percent from 2013, with Canada remaining the state's largest trading partner with $5.6 billion in purchases.
Mexico leapt up the list, becoming the state's second-largest customer with $2.24 billion in orders. Mexican companies were particularly aggressive during the fourth quarter, buying $625 million worth of Minnesota goods, compared with $186 million for the same period one year ago.
Growth was so strong that Mexico surpassed China, which placed third on the list by buying $2.2 billion in goods last year.
The state's other critical trading partners included Japan ($1.2 billion), Belgium ($886 million), Germany ($749 million), South Korea ($712 million), Philippines ($571 million) and Singapore ($531 million).
Katie Clark Sieben, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, noted that the state's efforts to encourage small and medium-sized manufacturers to export appears to be paying off.
"More than 8,600 Minnesota companies are exporting, most of them small and medium-sized businesses," Sieben said.
The state's agricultural, mining and manufacturing sectors shipped 930 different types of products to 192 countries between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. There was a higher demand globally for Minnesota-made optical and medical products, machinery, plastics and wood.
