MH370 Australia said today that plane debris recovered earlier this month from Mozambique was highly likely to have come from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which was carrying 239 people when it went missing more than two years ago.

A Malaysian government investigation team has found that both pieces of debris are consistent with panels from a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft, said Australia's minister for infrastructure and transport, Darren Chester.

"The analysis has concluded the debris is almost certainly from MH370," he said.

"That such debris has been found on the east coast of Africa is consistent with drift modeling ... and further affirms our search efforts in the southern Indian Ocean," Chester said.

Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew on board shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing in March 2014.

A white, meter-long chunk of metal was found off the coast of Mozambique this month by a US adventurer who has been carrying out an independent search for flight MH370. It arrived in Australia for testing earlier this week.

The debris was examined by investigators from Australia and Malaysia, as well as specialists from Boeing, Geoscience Australia and the Australian National University in Canberra.

Malaysia said this week it would send a team to retrieve a piece of debris found along the southern coast of South Africa to check whether it could also belong to MH370.

The jet is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean and an initial search of a 60,000 sq km area of sea floor has been extended to another 60,000 sq km.

A piece of the plane's wing washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, on the other side of Madagascar, in July 2015. So far only that piece, known as a flaperon, has been confirmed to belong to the missing plane. - Reuters

'Paint, stenciling match'

Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the two pieces of debris found in Mozambique were consistent with panels from a MAS Boeing 777 aircraft and almost certainly from MH370.

Liow, in a statement today, said the Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 investigation team advised that the dimensions, materials and constructions of both parts conform to the specifications of a Boeing 777 aircraft.

"The paint and stenciling on both parts match those used by Malaysia Airlines (MAS).

"As such, both parts are consistent with panels from a MAS Boeing 777 aircraft and almost certainly are from MH370," he said.

Liow said the location where both items were discovered in Mozambique were consistent with the results of drift modelling carried out by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

The debris which was examined at the Geoscience Australia and Australian Transport Safety Bureau facilities in Canberra where the examinations began on Monday and was completed yesterday.

Liow thanked the Mozambique, South African and Australian authorities for their assistance and support.

The Beijing bound MH370 MAS aircraft left KL International Airport and disappeared on March 8, 2014.

- Reuters