Note 19 - Related-party Transactions (Details Textual) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Cleveland Warehouse [Member]
Lessee, Operating Lease, Renewal Term	5 years
Lessee, Operating Lease, Number of Renewal Term	3
Chief Executive Officer [Member] \| Related Entity That Owns Cleveland Warehouse [Member]
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage	50.00%
Affiliated Entity [Member] \| Cleveland Warehouse [Member]
Operating Leases, Rent Expense, Total	$ 0.2

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001798&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of rent expense incurred for leased assets, including but not limited to, furniture and equipment, that is not directly or indirectly associated with the manufacture, sale or creation of a product or product line.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LeaseAndRentalExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Term of lessee's operating lease renewal, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918673-209980

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the number of lessee's operating lease renewal.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	zeus_LesseeOperatingLeaseNumberOfRenewalTerm
Namespace Prefix:	zeus_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=srt_ChiefExecutiveOfficerMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=zeus_RelatedEntityThatOwnsClevelandWarehouseMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=srt_AffiliatedEntityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RealEstateAndAccumulatedDepreciationDescriptionOfPropertyAxis=zeus_ClevelandWarehouseMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: