Is all the (commodities) hiring going to happen in Asia?

So much for the rush of commodities recruitment. As we've variously noted, commodities professionals are back in favour: SocGen, BarCap, BofA, and Morgan Stanley have all made noises about hiring them.

Today, however, it looks as if like commodities hires are being made in Asia rather than the City of London.

Bank of America has revealed the addition of five people to its Asia Pac commodities team and says it wants to hire more in the region.

Citigroup says it aspires to double digit growth in its Asian commodities team. And SocGen plans to double the size of its Asian trade financing business.

For recruitment conspiracy theorists, the emphasis on Asia has ominous undertones. A report out today from the City of London predicts that in 2013 there will still be 10,000 fewer financial services employees in London than in 2008.

And only last week, BarCap's said it's largely finished adding equities and advisory staff in Europe and the US, and that it plans to focus on 'emerging markets' from now on.

If (as hoped expected) hiring picks up substantially in Q1, will Asia therefore be main beneficiary?

Maybe. The head of EMEA recruitment at one US bank says: "Asia's the least developed area and therefore needs the most investment. A lot of core processes are also being outsourced there still."

The Asian commodities push comes despite fears about China's recovery and reflects expected increases in natural gas and oil demand in China and India.

Colleen Quilty, head of commodities at Correlate Search, says 'exceptional' levels of commodities hiring in Asia are inevitable as teams become more product-specific: "Rather than having generalists covering sales, commodity specialists are being put in place."