(Click on for main story) TOKYO, May 20 (Reuters) - Sentiment among Japanese manufacturers rose to its highest since December 2018 in May, the Reuters Tankan poll found, as the rollout of coronavirus vaccines around the world and improved global demand boosted prospects for exporters. The Reuters Tankan index readings are derived by subtracting the percentage of respondents who say conditions are poor from those who say they are good. A negative reading means that pessimists outnumber optimists. Following is a table of indexes for key sectors and a comparison with the Bank of Japan"s quarterly tankan survey: 2021 2020 AUG (f"cast) MAY APR MAR FEB JAN DEC =============================================================== MANUFACTURERS (+21) +21 +13 +6 +3 -1 -9 --------------------------------------------------------------- (Materials) (+15) +14 +4 0 0 -14 -20 - Textiles/paper (-8) -25 -17 -42 -33 -46 -36 - Chemicals (+42) +53 +32 +33 +29 +19 0 - Oil refinery/ceramics (+17) +17 +14 +17 +14 0 -14 - Steel/nonferrous metals (-9) -9 -30 -20 -22 -45 -50 (Manufactured products) (+25) +24 +18 +10 +3 +7 -2 - Food (0) 0 0 0 +18 +18 +18 - Metal products/machinery (+42) +34 +15 +9 +12 +7 -22 - Electric machinery (+32) +37 +21 +15 +5 +5 0 - Autos/transport equipment(+15) +16 +30 +16 -7 +15 +23 - Precision machinery/others(+15) +15 +17 +6 -11 -6 -14 =============================================================== NON-MANUFACTURERS (+13) +2 -3 -5 -7 -11 -4 --------------------------------------------------------------- - Real estate/construction (+4) 0 +4 +5 +5 -8 0 - Retail/wholesale (+10) -6 -3 -6 -13 -15 -5 - Wholesalers (+10) -5 -5 -26 -27 -27 -19 - Retailers (+8) -9 0 +23 +8 0 +12 - Information/communications(+60) +60 +64 +42 +44 +36 +36 - Transport/utility (+18) +12 -21 -10 -5 -20 -6 - Other services (+5) -19 -27 -35 -32 -29 -27 =============================================================== *** COMPARISON WITH BANK OF JAPAN TANKAN *** =============================================================== MANUFACTURERS NON-MANUFACTURERS RTRS BOJ RTRS BOJ --------------------------------------------------------------- AUG 2021 (forecast) +21 - +13 - JULY - - - - JUNE - (+4) - (-1) MAY +21 - +2 - APR +13 - -3 - MAR +6 +5 -5 -1 FEB +3 - -7 - JAN -1 - -11 - DEC 2020 -9 -10 -4 -5 NOV -13 - -13 - OCT -26 - -16 - SEP -29 -27 -18 -12 AUG -33 - -23 - JULY -44 - -26 - JUNE -46 -34 -32 -17 MAY -44 - -36 - APRIL -30 - -23 - MARCH -20 -8 -10 +8 FEB -5 - +15 - JAN -6 - +14 - DEC 2019 -6 0 +14 +20 NOV -9 - +12 - OCT -5 - +25 - SEP -7 +5 +19 +21 AUG -4 - +13 - JULY +3 - +25 - JUNE +6 +7 +22 +23 MAY +12 - +27 - APRIL +8 - +24 - MARCH +10 +12 +22 +21 FEB +13 - +22 - JAN +18 - +31 - DEC 2018 +23 +19 +31 +24 NOV +26 - +30 - OCT +28 - +24 - SEPT +26 +19 +33 +22 AUG +30 - +25 - JULY +25 - +34 - JUNE +26 +21 +35 +24 MAY +22 - +39 - APRIL +21 - +36 - MARCH +28 +24 +35 +23 FEB +29 - +33 - JAN +35 - +33 - ---------------------------------------------------------------- (Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.