Indonesia's export of palm oil and derived products grew to 3.25 million tons in January, up 4 percent from a month earlier, the national palm oil exporters association (Gapki) said on Friday.

Export of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) accounted for 23 percent, or 746,060 tons, from overall export figure.

The remaining 77 percent was contributed by palm oil derived products, including oleo chemical and biodiesel, Gapki Executive Director Mukti Sardjono said in a statement.

"The growing export in January was prompted by significant demand expansion from alternative markets," he said.

Among the alternative markets with expanding demands were African countries that recorded a sharp export growth of 74 percent to 315,910 tons compared to that of a month earlier.

Significant demand growths in January were also seen from Bangladesh with 43 percent, the United States with 26 percent, the Middle East region with 13 percent and India with 9 percent, he said.

According to Mukti, Indonesia's positive palm oil export performance in January was related to the increasing price of palm oil in global market that reached 530.7 U.S. dollars from 490.5 U.S. dollars per ton a month earlier.