U.S. Steel fell 6.6 percent to $36.57 at the close in New York. The Pittsburgh-based company's stock is still 24 percent above its closing price at the end of 2013.

“U.S. Steel temporarily benefited from panic ordering due to a shortage of raw materials, which led to a spike in hot rolled steel prices,” Einhorn said Tuesday in a conference call discussing results at Greenlight Capital Re Ltd., the reinsurer where he is chairman. “Given the near-record spread between domestic steel prices and foreign steel prices, we believe that imports will arrive shortly, steel prices will retrace and U.S. Steel’s great third quarter will likely be the best result it reports for a long time.”

Last week, U.S. Steel posted third-quarter adjusted net income of $2.16 a share, the highest since the third quarter of 2008. Fourth-quarter operating income in the company’s flat- rolled division, its biggest unit, is “expected to decrease significantly,” from $347 million in the third quarter, the company said in a statement.

Courtney Boone, a spokeswoman for U.S. Steel, declined to comment on the share move.

The Bloomberg World Iron and Steel Index fell 0.7 percent, led by a 15 percent decline in West Chester, Ohio-based AK Steel Holding Corp.