” I grew up a few miles from a huge steel mill. That mill rolled battleship armor in WW2. The mill is gone now, and much of the site sits empty. “
In Feb, 2002, the single USA source of ballistic steel was Oregon Steel, which is owned by EVRAZ, a Russian company controlled by Putin Oligarch Roman Obramavitch.
(EVRAZ was going to sell its North American operations, but Obramavich seems to have been exempted from sanctions, and I don’t think it has happened yet)
In any case, the USA imports 30% of steel used, so there have been shortages since the Ukraine war started and sanctions went on Russia, until recently when steel prices fell due to the economy.
That is Feb, 2022...