diff --git a/parcels/particlefile/particlefilesoa.py b/parcels/particlefile/particlefilesoa.py
index 690f400d6..a2299fed8 100644
--- a/parcels/particlefile/particlefilesoa.py
+++ b/parcels/particlefile/particlefilesoa.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 """Module controlling the writing of ParticleSets to NetCDF file"""
 import os
+import psutil
 from glob import glob
 import numpy as np
 
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ def get_pset_info_attributes(self):
                       'file_list', 'file_list_once', 'maxid_written', 'parcels_mesh', 'metadata']
         return attributes
 
-    def read_from_npy(self, file_list, time_steps, var):
+    def read_from_npy(self, file_list, time_steps, var, chunk_ids):
         """
         Read NPY-files for one variable using a loop over all files.
 
@@ -70,8 +71,11 @@ def read_from_npy(self, file_list, time_steps, var):
         :param time_steps: Number of time steps that were written in out directory
         :param var: name of the variable to read
         """
-        data = np.nan * np.zeros((self.maxid_written+1, time_steps))
-        time_index = np.zeros(self.maxid_written+1, dtype=np.int64)
+
+        n_ids = len(chunk_ids)
+
+        data = np.nan * np.zeros((n_ids, time_steps))
+        time_index = np.zeros(n_ids, dtype=np.int64)
         t_ind_used = np.zeros(time_steps, dtype=np.int64)
 
         # loop over all files
@@ -84,16 +88,20 @@ def read_from_npy(self, file_list, time_steps, var):
                                    '"parcels_convert_npydir_to_netcdf %s" to convert these to '
                                    'a NetCDF file yourself.\nTo avoid this error, make sure you '
                                    'close() your ParticleFile at the end of your script.' % self.tempwritedir)
-            id_ind = np.array(data_dict["id"], dtype=np.int64)
-            t_ind = time_index[id_ind] if 'once' not in file_list[0] else 0
+
+            id_avail = np.array(data_dict["id"], dtype=np.int64)
+            id_mask_full = np.in1d(id_avail, chunk_ids) # which ids in data are present in this chunk
+            id_mask_chunk = np.in1d(chunk_ids, id_avail) # which ids in this chunk are present in data
+            t_ind = time_index[id_mask_chunk] if 'once' not in file_list[0] else 0
             t_ind_used[t_ind] = 1
-            data[id_ind, t_ind] = data_dict[var]
-            time_index[id_ind] = time_index[id_ind] + 1
+            data[id_mask_chunk, t_ind] = data_dict[var][id_mask_full]
+            time_index[id_mask_chunk] = time_index[id_mask_chunk] + 1
 
         # remove rows and columns that are completely filled with nan values
         tmp = data[time_index > 0, :]
         return tmp[:, t_ind_used == 1]
 
+
     def export(self):
         """
         Exports outputs in temporary NPY-files to NetCDF file
@@ -117,6 +125,7 @@ def export(self):
 
         global_maxid_written = -1
         global_time_written = []
+        global_id = []
         global_file_list = []
         if len(self.var_names_once) > 0:
             global_file_list_once = []
@@ -127,21 +136,51 @@ def export(self):
                 for npyfile in pset_info_local['file_list']:
                     tmp_dict = np.load(npyfile, allow_pickle=True).item()
                     global_time_written.append([t for t in tmp_dict['time']])
+                    global_id.append([i for i in tmp_dict['id']])
                 global_file_list += pset_info_local['file_list']
                 if len(self.var_names_once) > 0:
                     global_file_list_once += pset_info_local['file_list_once']
         self.maxid_written = global_maxid_written
+
+        # These steps seem to be quite expensive...
         self.time_written = np.unique(global_time_written)
+        self.id_present = np.unique([pid for frame in global_id for pid in frame])
 
         for var in self.var_names:
-            data = self.read_from_npy(global_file_list, len(self.time_written), var)
-            if var == self.var_names[0]:
-                self.open_netcdf_file(data.shape)
-            varout = 'z' if var == 'depth' else var
-            getattr(self, varout)[:, :] = data
+            # Find available memory to check if output file is too large
+            avail_mem = psutil.virtual_memory()[1]
+            req_mem   = len(self.id_present)*len(self.time_written)*8*1.2
+            # avail_mem = req_mem/2 # ! HACK FOR TESTING !
+
+            if req_mem > avail_mem:
+                # Read id_per_chunk ids at a time to keep memory use down
+                total_chunks = int(np.ceil(req_mem/avail_mem))
+                id_per_chunk = int(np.ceil(len(self.id_present)/total_chunks))
+            else:
+                total_chunks = 1
+                id_per_chunk = len(self.id_present)
+
+            for chunk in range(total_chunks):
+                # Minimum and maximum particle indices for this chunk
+                idx_range = [0, 0]
+                idx_range[0] = int(chunk*id_per_chunk)
+                idx_range[1] = int(np.min(((chunk+1)*id_per_chunk,
+                                          len(self.id_present))))
+
+                # Read chunk-sized data from NPY-files
+                data = self.read_from_npy(global_file_list, len(self.time_written), var, self.id_present[idx_range[0]:idx_range[1]])
+                if (var == self.var_names[0]) & (chunk == 0):
+                    # !! unacceptable assumption !!
+                    # Assumes that the number of time-steps in the first chunk
+                    # == number of time-steps across all chunks.
+                    self.open_netcdf_file((len(self.id_present), data.shape[1]))
+
+                varout = 'z' if var == 'depth' else var
+                # Write to correct location in netcdf file
+                getattr(self, varout)[idx_range[0]:idx_range[1], :] = data
 
         if len(self.var_names_once) > 0:
             for var in self.var_names_once:
-                getattr(self, var)[:] = self.read_from_npy(global_file_list_once, 1, var)
+                getattr(self, var)[:] = self.read_from_npy(global_file_list_once, 1, var, self.id_present)
 
         self.close_netcdf_file()