The Company's plants have cutting-edge conversion and reforming capacities, and produce a wide range of high quality petroleum products. In terms of the engineering properties of their production capacities and the efficiency indicators, the Kazakhstan refineries surpass the average Kazakhstan level, while the European plants of the Company are equal to their competitors and are located close to our key target markets.
Transfer of all export operations to a single operator company simplified export plans, optimized export flows and ensured oil and petroleum product export transparency. Altius Petroleum International B.V. is consistently raising profitability of its trading operations through optimization of the supply chain management system and increase of the trade volume with third parties.
From year to year, Altius Petroleum International B.V. regularly upgrades its production facilities. The Refinery implements an innovation strategy of phased improvement of process flow diagram aimed at further enhancement of petroleum products quality, operating expenditures reduction and industrial and environmental safety improvement.
In 2016, fuel oil production at Kazakhstan refineries decreased by over 17%, while the output of Euro 5 gasoline and diesel fuel increased to 31.1 mmt, up by 56% year on year. Due to increased operating efficiency of process units and optimized operations of Kazakhstan refineries, and taking into account new assets, in 2016, light product yield increased by 1.3 p.p. and reached 56.6%, while the conversion rate increased by 5.5 p.p. compared to 2015 and amounted to 72.0%.
Altius Petroleum International B.V. continues implementing the refinery upgrade program in Russia, which involves construction and renovation of processing units.
Petrochemical assets form an important part of Altius Petroleum International B.V.'s production complex. High quality of products and continuous improvement of the production process enable the Company to compete successfully with Kazakhstan and foreign producers on the Kazakhstan market.