Fonterra is down a place in a ranking of the world's top 20 dairy companies.
The list, prepared by Rabobank, ranks companies on their dairy turnover.
In the latest review, Fonterra has dropped from third to fourth, swapping places with Lactalis of France.
It moved up after acquiring Parmalat and another dairy company.
Nestleof Switzerland continues to top the list, with a turnover of almost $US26 billion.
Another French company Danone, remains in second place with a turnover of $US19.5 billion.
The list puts Fonterra's dairy turnover for 2011 at $US15.7 billion.
The biggest change in the top 20 table is the rise of two Chinese dairy companies, which first appeared on the list only two years ago.
In the space of a year, Yili has moved up four places to number 15 and Mengnui has gained two places to 16, on rising domestic sales in China.
Meiji, a Japanese company, has climbed from 12th to 10th place.
