As automation reshapes financial markets around the world, there’s still one place where handshake deals are the norm and using technology means bcc-ing bids and offers over email.
The complex and antiquated world of steel -- among the oldest industries in America -- is one of the last lines of defense against the bots. Instead of a computerized market where orders ping-pong back and forth in milliseconds, a large bulk of the industry’s transactions are done in annual contract deals, with agreed-upon prices and volumes. Unlike most commodities, there’s hardly a futures market and when steel does trade, it’s by phone or email.