According to reports, inspite of dented by the global recession of 2008-09 wehich required government intervention, Bhutanese domestic ferroalloy and steel industry is now just behind hydropower in terms of export value to India.

In 2010, while hydropower exports was around BTN 10.4 billion exports of base metals amounted to BTN 9.8 billion, making up almost 38% of all exports to India. In 2010, exports of BTN 190 million also went to countries other than India.
Ferroalloys, iron and non alloy steel, intermediary products such as billets, structural steel like TMT bars, copper, manganese, aluminium, lead and tin are included among base metals, as a commodity code.

The bulk of base metal exports were made up by Ferro silicon, which was BTN 5.5 billion in 2010.

There are seven ferroalloy factories based in Pasakha, Phuentsholing and one in Samdrupjongkhar. Commercial production was started by all except for Bhutan Ferro Alloys Limited and SD Eastern Bhutan, when the global recession hit in 2008. Various interventions for doling out to the Pasakha ferroalloy and steel industries were agreed upon by the government in March 2009, which included the reduction of the penalty for late payment of power bills from 5% to 1.5% for a year and the deferment of repayment of loans to the banks by six months.