Dairy co-operative Fonterra has shifted export shipments from Auckland to other ports after weeks of industrial unrest on the Auckland waterfront.
Ports of Auckland confirmed on Wednesday it had lost contracts with the country's largest exporter to Tauranga and Napier ports, claiming it was directly related to the threat of ongoing strike action by the Maritime Union.
Wharfies and port management have been at loggerheads since early December largely over conditions, especially casualisation.
Strikes during three weekends in December disrupted Christmas shipments, sending Maersk's Southern Star service to Port of Tauranga.
Ports of Auckland Chief Executive Tony Gibson said Fonterra's move to re-route $27 million in weekly trade elsewhere was a big blow but was not unexpected.
"With (the union) threatening further strike action, it's inevitable that customers will look for alternatives and contingencies," Mr Gibson said.
"Shippers need certainty and reliable service."
He gave the union an ultimatum, saying the company had put nine offers on the table since August but had not received any response to the last three.
The latest was the best and final offer, and included a generous 10 per cent rise on hourly rates and better bonuses in return for a new, more flexible roster system, he said.
But Maritime Union national president Garry Parsloe said the company had repeatedly put the same offer on the table and was refusing to make itself available for mediation to solve the dispute.
"If the situation is so critical, as they claim, then don't you think they'd be sitting down at the table with us right now to solve it?" he told NZ Newswire.
Mr Parsloe said workers were not concerned with pay rates but rejected the new roster, which he says gives staff no certainty of shifts in advance.
"So you've got people waiting by the phone to find out when they're working. That's no way to live," he said.
A further two-day strike is scheduled for January 9-11.
Fonterra has annual turnover of $19.9 billion.
NZN