What is the reason for the reduction in steel supplies to the United States

Hours before the US President traveled to China, the world's largest steelmaker announced that exports had fallen to their lowest levels in years, which was Donald Trump's target for Chinese imports to the United States.

Steel exports from the country, which accounts for half of global production, fell to 4.98 million tons last month, up from 5.14 million tons last year, according to customs data. This is the lowest since 2014, and very far from the monthly high at the end of 2015, when China's exports exceeded 11 million tons.

Prior to taking office, candidate Trump has often cited China as an example of unfair competition. Back in June, Trump told an audience in Cincinnati, Ohio, "Wait, you'll see what I'm going to do for the steel industry and for your steel companies." He added: "We are going to stop the dumping of steel products and stop all these wonderful other countries that are killing our companies."

That being said, the driving force behind China's steel export slump was the decision by politicians to clean up the environment, proposed by President Xi Jinping in his address to Congress last month, as well as an ongoing campaign to curb overcapacity.

China has closed a number of factories to cut production. As a result, steel production, which was running at a record pace, fell in September to its lowest level in at least six months. Investors will receive the update next week when China releases factory data for October.