The United States whey protein concentrate market is experiencing unprecedented tightness, with spot market availability becoming critically low and prices climbing to levels not seen before.

Buyers are working to secure offers in a market that keeps testing the limits of how far buyers are willing to go to secure volumes. The US Vesper Price Index for WPC80 instant stands at €12,185 ($13,999/mt or $6.35/lb) EXW as of November 5, 2025, while US WPI instant has increased to €20,533 ($23,589/mt or $10.70/lb) EXW.

Production setbacks create supply gap

The underlying challenge is clear: this market tightness won’t resolve itself unless consumer prices increase and demand lowers.

The current tightness stems from temporary factory downtime in the United States. Production capacity expansion is not without setbacks, and the US is now short on whey protein concentrates. Several buyers of US WPC80 and WPI are left in the cold, which means Europe is the next viable source of proteins.

WPC80 has become virtually impossible to source in the US market. This tightness is now creeping into the European price level as well, as buyers from Asia, the US, and Europe are looking to buy whey proteins in the European market.

US WPI pricing has exceeded the price in Europe, as the shortage of product is becoming more apparent in the US market. Production capacity remains constrained, and with some plants experiencing issues, the total supply of WPI was lower than anticipated.

Q1 outlook remains tight

Q4 business is generally wrapped up, and Q1 business activity is picking up fast, especially as the tighter and more bullish sentiment is shining through more and more. Q1 pricing is expected to hold at current levels if not higher, as the supply and demand for Q1 still looks tighter.

A lot of buyers have popped up over the last few weeks that still needed some volumes for Q4 and Q1. Everyone still wants WPI – instant, regular, clear, even at 95% protein – which makes a lot of buyers fish in a relatively small pond.

European market faces increased pressure

The question is whether Europe can handle European, Asian, and even a bit of US demand all at once. Still, US buyers are not too likely to purchase significant amounts of WPC80 in the EU, but there will probably be some volumes shipped across the Atlantic.

European WPC80 instant prices remained at €12,400 ($14,245/mt or $6.46/lb) EXW, while European WPI instant increased to €20,250 ($23,264/mt or $10.55/lb) EXW.

Market outlook

WPC80 prices are very likely to stay strong until the end of the year and through Q1. For US WPC80, prices will likely be higher than for European WPC80 due to the shortage of supply and the remarkably high demand. How much of that strength in US WPC80 flows over into EU WPC80 fully depends on the amount of Asian and US buyers that will try to secure European volumes, but will definitely play a role in the coming few months.

The WPI market isn’t getting any easier, nor is WPI getting any cheaper. There are many buyers in the market for limited volumes of WPI, and that is expected to stick around into next year as well. Prices will stay up here or go even higher, waiting to break more price records.

This newsarticle is part of a more comprehensive market analysis. For the full analysis, visit: https://app.vespertool.com/market-analysis/2421