The commodities boom may be giving banks a bit of vertigo, but they’re not about to close their eyes to the dizzying profits that are there to be made if they play their cards right. That includes hiring more staff in this industry – even if that in and of itself turns out to be a major gamble. (After all, commodities traders don’t come cheap.) Deutsche Bank’s plan for overcoming the odds.

Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's largest bank, plans to increase its commodities staff by 15 percent to 25 percent this year as record prices for oil, gold and soybeans increase the potential for profits.

The bank has 150 to 250 people in its commodity unit now, David Silbert, Deutsche Bank's global head of commodities, said in a Jan. 15 interview in London. He wouldn't be more specific.

Securities firms such as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Credit Suisse Group added a record 450 people for commodities last year, according to Options Group, a New York-based recruitment firm. Losses related to the collapse of the U.S. subprime market have caused banks including Deutsche Bank and Citigroup Inc. to eliminate jobs.

``We haven't seen a diminishing appetite for growth in commodities, pre-subprime or now,'' Silbert, 37, said. ``If anything, we think there's a need for a robust commodities business even more so today.''

The Frankfurt-based bank generated revenue of about 200 million euros ($292 million) from commodities in 2006, compared with 2.6 billion euros by its biggest rival that it didn't name…

(Continue reading on Bloomberg)

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