A piece of debris recently found on an Indian Ocean island where a wing fragment from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had previously washed ashore is unlikely to be from the missing plane, Australian officials say.

The piece was discovered earlier this month on French-governed Reunion Island by Johnny Begue.

He had found a wing part on Reunion in July that came from Flight 370, which disappeared in March 2014.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said French authorities examining the latest piece have determined that it is unlikely to be from the missing Boeing 777.

The wing fragment found in July remains the only confirmed debris from Flight 370. Two other pieces that washed ashore in Mozambique have yet to be examined by investigators.

Flight 370 disappeared during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 2014, with 239 people on board.

Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai has cautioned against speculation that any of the recently found parts came from the missing plane, although he has suggested that one of the parts found in Mozambique looks promising.

That part was discovered by an American man earlier this month.

A US official said photos of that piece appear to show that it is the fixed leading edge of the right-hand tail section of a Boeing 777. Flight 370 is the only missing 777.

Mr Liow also confirmed that the part appears to have come from the missing plane, tweeting that there is a "high possibility" it belongs to a 777.