EXHIBIT 31.2
CERTIFICATION OF THE PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO 15 U.S.C. 78m(a) OR 78O(d)
(SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002)
I, Richard T. Marabito, the Chief Financial Officer of Olympic Steel, Inc. (the
"Company"), certify that:
(1) I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of the
Company;
(2) Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain
any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light
of the circumstances under which such statements were made,
not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
quarterly report;
(3) Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this quarterly report,
fairly present in all material respects the financial
condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company
as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly
report;
(4) The Company's other certifying officer and I are responsible
for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and
15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as
defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the
Company and we have:
(a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
designed under our supervision, to ensure that
material information relating to the Company,
including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
known to us by others within those entities,
particularly during the period in which this
quarterly report is being prepared;
(b) designed such internal control over financial
reporting, or caused such internal control over
financial reporting to be designed under our
supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the
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reliability of financial reporting and the
preparation of financial statements for external
purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles;
(c) evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's
disclosure controls and procedures and presented in
this quarterly report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
procedures, as of the end of the period covered by
this quarterly report based on such evaluation; and
(d) disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the
Company's internal control over financial reporting
that occurred during the Company's most recent fiscal
quarter (the Company's fourth fiscal quarter in the
case of an annual report) that has materially
affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
affect, the Company's internal control over financial
reporting; and
(5) The Company's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the Company's auditors and the audit
committee of the Company's board of directors (or persons
performing the equivalent function):
(a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses
in the design or operation of internal control over
financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
adversely affect the Company's ability to record,
process, summarize and report financial information;
and
(b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
management or other employees who have a significant
role in the Company's internal control over financial
reporting.
By: /s/ Richard T. Marabito
-------------------------
Richard T. Marabito
Olympic Steel, Inc.
Chief Financial Officer
May 10, 2004
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