ST. LOUIS, Jan. 7, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zoltek Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZOLT) today provided an update on the impact on its Hungarian operations of the disruption of natural gas supplies in Europe. Zoltek anticipates that its carbon fiber and technical fiber shipments will not be materially affected by the disruption in the supply of natural gas to its Hungarian facility because it maintains ample precursor and finished goods inventories. Zoltek is also activating its contingency plans to maintain carbon fiber and technical fiber production at the Hungarian facility by utilizing precursor manufactured at Zoltek's Mexico plant in case the gas shortage persists. Given the critical importance of natural gas to the European economy, suppliers and consumers have a strong incentive to resolve the issues resulting in the disruption and, accordingly, the company expects natural gas supplies in Hungary ultimately will resume historical levels.

Zsolt Rumy, Zoltek's Chairman and CEO commented, "While the natural gas supply problems certainly are creating hardships for many in Europe and we hope that they can be solved quickly, we don't believe this development will have a significant effect on our ability to meet our customers' needs. The availability of the Mexican precursor demonstrates the value of the redundant facilities. As we have said in the past, the key factors that impact our short-term performance are our customers' inventory management practices, including seasonal adjustments, as well as foreign currency fluctuations and the current weakness in the global economy. Longer term continuation of our growth trends will be a function of our ability to enter into supply relationships with large-volume users of carbon fibers for commercial applications who seek a reliable source of supply at favorable, sustainable prices. We believe we have a stable platform to build on our leadership in wind energy and other applications while we aggressively seek out new breakthrough applications."

This press release contains certain statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "expect," "believe," "goal," "plan," "intend," "estimate," and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to specifically identify forward-looking statements.