Carbon nanofibres composites with macroscopic shaping were successfully synthesised by chemical vapour decomposition (CVD) using a low loading in nickel as catalyst (less than or equal to wt.%). A high carbon nanofibres yield, i.e. 100 wt.% weight gain per hour of synthesis with respect to the initial catalyst weight was obtained, which significantly lowered the synthesis cost while the direct macroscopic shaping rendered more reliable the applications of these materials in conventional catalytic processes. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.