Vietnam's coffee exports in April were equivalent to half of Brazil'stotal exports, confirming the wide gap between the world's two largestcoffee exporters.

The International Coffee Organisation's (ICO)report, released at the end of May, said Vietnam shipped only 1.45million bags of coffee in April, posting a 42.8 percent year-on-yeardecrease, the largest drop among the top coffee exporting countries.

Despitebeing the world's second largest coffee exporter, the country's exportwas much less than Brazil's total of three million bags.

Colombiaand Honduras, which are in third and fourth position respectively, sawtheir exports increase by 16 to 20 percent in the period.

The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association said the decrease in coffee output was due to prolonged bad weather.

The association said the Central Highlands faced a severe water shortage.

Inthe last 10 years, the region has suffered from the most severe droughton record, pulling down coffee output and exports to the lowest levelin the past five years.

The website also forecast there would be134 days of hot weather in the region by 2050, and 230 days by 2100,thus affecting coffee cultivation.

Vietnamese coffee exports have also faced a fall in value due to decreasing prices.

Statisticsfrom the General Department of Customs said coffee export turnover inApril was 225 million USD, bringing the total to 968 USD million in thefirst four months of the year. This represented a 39 percent fall overthe same period last year.-VNA