EXHIBIT 31.2

                CERTIFICATION OF THE PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE 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 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

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                        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 controls 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

November 5, 2004

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