Zoltek ( until 2014) is a materials company headquartered in St. Louis, MO that engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of commercial carbon fiber for various applications. Their primary customers are in the sectors of wind energy, alternative energy, lightweight automobiles, construction and infrastructure, and oil exploration.
Zoltek sells commercial carbon grade carbon fibers under the Panex trade name, and oxidized acrylic fiber under the Pyron trade name.[1]
History
Zoltek is named for its founder, engineer Zsolt Rumy, who as a youth immigrated with his family to the United States from Hungary. It began as an industrial equipment and services company, and shifted into a carbon fiber producer after a business acquisition in 1988. In 1992, Zoltek's IPO raised $4 million, which was primarily used to build their first continuous carbonization line for the textile-type precursor. Since then, Zoltek has taken steps to reduce the cost of their principal raw material.[2] In 1995, Zoltek purchased Magyar Viscosa, a Hungarian producer of acrylic and other fibers for the European textile market.[3] The acquisition supported their carbon fiber business in two ways: First, it gave them further means of driving down the cost and price, by enabling them to produce precursor from acrylic in-house and to use the acquired technology and expertise to develop other sources.