The price volatility of whey powder is now less pronounced than it used to be: with the rising trend, price swings are not only weaker than they used to be, but also weaker than they are now for butter and milk powder. Gone are the days when the prices of "classic" dairy products such as butter and milk powder and, indirectly, drinking milk and cheese were kept stable by the EU dairy market regulation, while whey powder proved to be the biggest "troublemaker" in the entire sector.
An important reason for this development is the increasing development of markets for whey powder and other whey derivatives. The most important use in terms of volume is still animal feed. The initial aim in North America and Europe was to replace skimmed milk powder, which had become increasingly expensive, as an important component, especially in calf milk products for fattening and rearing, which now appears to have been achieved to the bare minimum. In addition, due to its high lactose content and special proteins, sweet whey powder is increasingly required by the feed industry in emerging countries, especially in East Asia, for piglet rearing products. This is because the increasing appetite for pork creates an incentive for sows to litter more quickly, which can be achieved by early weaning with the help of piglet starters. The most important buyer country is now China, which has more than doubled its imports from 166,000 tons in 2007 to almost 390,000 tons in 2012. After all, China has increased its pork production by 18 million tons to 50 million tons in 17 years since 1995, and this is projected to increase by another 10 million tons by 2022. Similar growth rates can also be expected for other Asian countries such as Vietnam and Taiwan.
Other uses for whey powder and derivatives as well as lactose with special specifications are growing in the food industry, baby food, which is becoming increasingly popular in emerging countries, dietary foods and pharmaceutical products.
The generation of liquid whey as a by-product of the production of cheese and casein, which is also growing, but probably not fast enough, can hardly keep pace with these potential applications for whey ingredients. And it is precisely in the emerging markets mentioned above that the production and consumption of cheese, and therefore also the generation of whey, do not play a major role and will not do so in the foreseeable future. The most important sources of supply therefore remain the dairy industries in Europe and the USA.
