Mills have stopped buying raw cotton and closed in Hebei province and parts of Shandong, both major growing regions for the fiber, according to a report by Cncotton.com, a government-backed trade website. China is the world’s top textile exporter.

The report said cotton processing in parts of Hebei, one of the nation’s most polluted provinces, may be affected until the end of December.

The shutdowns come as more than more than 40 cities in China’s northeast have issued pollution warnings in the past 48 hoursคำพูดจาก สล็อตpg. For many cities, that means shutting factories, closing schools, recommending residents stay indoors and curbing traffic and construction work.

Pollution alerts have become increasingly common in China’s northern industrial heartland, especially during winter when energy demand – much of it met by coal – skyrockets.คำพูดจาก สล็อต เว็บใหญ่

Prolonged closures at cotton mills would likely hurt demand for the natural fiber amid concerns about global oversupply.

China’s most-active cotton futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange settled down 0.60 percent on Monday at 15,715 yuan ($2,263.27) per tonne, after earlier hitting their lowest in a month at 15,465 yuan.