By Mary Jo Feldstein

Zsolt Rumy, founder and chief executive of Zoltek Cos., says his carbon fibers will be the next aluminum or plastic.

But as with so many great discoveries, Rumy said, working out the kinks and convincing the masses is taking a little longer than expected.

He said his Bridgeton company will return to profitability this year. But he has been optimistic before, and it has been five years since Zoltek made money.

"It has been one of our disappointments, the speed in which carbon fiber is becoming a commercial product," Rumy said. "We're three years later than I thought we would be. But in the total scheme of things, that's not much time, however painful for the shareholder."

Carbon fiber is stronger than steel but weighs less. It has traditionally been used to make aircraft brakes. Zoltek's niche has been using the fibers for less-traditional applications, such as windmills, cars and golf clubs.

This spring, Zoltek is touting a deal it signed and first publicized in October 2002. One of the nation's leading suppliers of bedding components, Leggett & Platt Inc. of Carthage, Mo., will use Zoltek's Pyro Gon fibers for mattresses sold in California. That state is requiring that mattress makers switch to a different flame-resistant material than one in use today.

At the time the deal was struck, Rumy said Pyro Gon fibers "could become a significant source of revenues for Zoltek in the second half of next year." But there was an obstacle.

The mattress industry held off the regulations with delays and revisions, suspending the use of Zoltek's fibers - as well as its expected increases in sales.

Zoltek said that the rules will be enforced Jan. 1 and that mattress orders should pick up soon.

In the meantime, Zoltek is selling Pyro Gon fibers - an intermediate product before acrylic is turned into carbon fiber - in Europe for use in Volkswagen vehicles and in bedding. Zoltek also hopes Congress will enact federal regulations similar to those in California.

Rumy's ideas in tandem with the technology boom and bust have sent Zoltek's stock price on a volatile ride. It soared during the mid-1990s, hitting a high of $63.63 in September 1997.

Then, in 2000 and 2001, aerospace demand slowed, and producers of aerospace-grade carbon fibers moved to lower-cost applications as a way to keep plants running until conditions improved. For Zoltek, that meant competitors were encroaching on its niche.

"We definitely expected in 2000 and 2001 that the market was going to change significantly, and these applications were going to come on fairly quickly, and they haven't," Rumy said.

The last few years have been difficult, he said, particularly watching investors get "greedy." He resented investors who bought Zoltek stock as a way to make a quick profit, not because they believed in the company or its products. Rumy said most of those shareholders have moved on.

Many of his ideas are based on radical shifts in thinking. He believes changes, such as hydrogen-fueled cars and windmill energy, are certainties. The question is how soon.

In 2002, faced with a sinking stock price and pressure from Zoltek's board and creditors, Rumy brought in an outside consultant, Steve Stetz, co-owner of Matterhorn Strategic Partners, to evaluate the company.

"Zoltek is one of those incredibly interesting companies that has a technology that really could offer some step change in certain industries," said Stetz, who researched the company for about eight months.

Since his report, Zoltek has refinanced a $12.3 million bank loan and cut down on excess capacity at its plants.

Still, some investors remain unconvinced. No securities analysts cover Zoltek.

Larry Callahan, an analyst at Huntleigh Securities, researches the company as an investor, not an analyst. He bought Zoltek stock short but still said Rumy's power as a salesman and his apparent belief in the product make investors want to root for the company.

"I think they're on the right track, but the financial reality doesn't match up to the vision," Callahan said. "There's been a lot of talk about consolidation in the industry, and I just don't see them being an acquirer."

For the last five years, Zoltek and BMW have been researching how to use carbon fibers to make strong, lightweight automotive parts. The investment has cost BMW about $100 million and Zoltek about $8 million, Rumy said.

The luxury-car maker had planned to start with a production line of nine or 10 cars a day. Rumy said BMW decided to scrap the first stage and start with a production line of 300 to 350 cars a day. The switch will delay production but make it more profitable once it starts.

"It's just more time and more money than you ever expect when you start," Rumy said.