* EBIT up to $33 million vs forecast $29 million
* Sees stable operating income going forward vs H1
* Warns of overcapacity
* Coal freight seen becoming more important for market
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By Camilla Knudsen and Richard Solem
OSLO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Golden Ocean Group believes China's hunger for ore and coal will likely blunt the risk to freight rates from potential overcapacity in the dry bulk shipping sector.
The Norwegian company posted operating profit up 175 percent to $33 million in the April-June quarter, above a forecast of $29 million in a Reuters poll, and said net operating income going forward should be in line with the first two quarters.
Shares in Golden Ocean rose 2.0 percent at 0800 GMT Thursday against a 1.2 percent rise for Oslo's benchmark index.
Global demand for dry bulk transportation was estimated to be around 455 millions dead-weight tonnes in the second quarter on an annualized basis, Golden Ocean said, implying a fleet utilization of 92.5 per cent.
"Due to the fact that new orders have been placed and few vessels have been scrapped we need to have a shortfall of 40 per cent of actual deliveries compared to the official order book to keep utilization in excess of 90 per cent," it said.
But Golden Ocean's Chief Executive Herman Billung said the official order book "was full of holes", adding that demand was seen strong ahead, whith China accounting for around 40 per cent of the total dry bulk imports.
"A lot (of new ships) will enter the market towards the end of the year, so we need to have some help from demand in the fourth quarter to maintain the current market level," he said.
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, fell on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three weeks as slower activity weighed on sentiment.
The Baltic's main index has been erratic this year, similar to 2009, because of swings in Chinese demand for iron ore, the primary ingredient of steel.
More broadly, industry concerns about the pace of global economic recovery may hit shipping, given that about 90 percent of the world's traded goods by volume are transported by sea.
"Coal looks to become more important for the dry bulk market. There's a big potential in India and China," Billung told a presentation on results.
China's enormous hunger for coal to feed its surging power consumption and steel production may see it become the world's top coal importer in 2010.
Golden Ocean set a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share against analyst forecasts of $0.03.
"The level of dividends will be adapted to the relevant market situation and the result and cash situation," it said, adding that it was working on several investment opportunities.
"The trading activity will be lower in Q3 but we expect it to pick up in the fourth quarter," Golden Ocean said.
(Editing by David Cowell)