When I was still a child my father gave me one of the best lessons of popular wisdom I have ever had: life is not easy, but while some cry there are others who sell handkerchiefs.
If we bring the popular teachings to our current reality, we will encounter serious problems that include derisory rises in the price of oil-derived commodities, including TiO2; customer protests about increases in the price of products, increased competition, among many others that surely you, Mr. Reader, already have in mind.
This is a difficult reality, yes. The price of oil is an extremely volatile element and the main producing countries (Middle East and Africa) are immersed in social processes that affect the stability of production, and trigger the consumption of painkillers in markets around the world.
But this situation could also be an opportunity for those who know how to take advantage of it. Recently there was the unfortunate earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan that ended up unleashing a nuclear emergency of great proportions. Since then the eyes of the world are on Fukushima, while renewables are again emerging as a less dangerous alternative to nuclear plants.
Solar energy, which has not yet achieved massification, today becomes one of the most attractive, thus generating new opportunities for our industry. Some companies had already bet on developing coatings with applied nanotechnology, which allow to create more resistant and durable solar cells.
And that's just one example. Growth options are available to those who want to invest part of their resources in research. It is well known that one of the formulas for success in the market is innovation.
