Where the laid off Deutsche Bank commodities traders are going to get rehired...

Christmas is coming and Deutsche Bank is making 200 of its commodities traders redundant. It's not a question of traders' ineptitude. It's not a question of seasonal dysfunction. It's because of weak client activity and heavy regulatory scrutiny.

So what do you do if you're one of Deutsche's unwanted? Unfortunately, you'll be joining a market that's thick with laid off commodities professionals - Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan have also been trimming commodities teams this year and research company Coalition recently predicted that commodities revenues will fall 13% in 2013.

But there is hope. Recruiters and commodities traders say there is still some hiring happening in banks' commodities trading arms. This is where it's at (allegedly).

1. Macquarie:  Big commodities bank, said to be going back to its roots, rumoured to be hiring in London.

2. Citi: Big US bank, been busy with markets recruitment this year, said to be open to commodities hires globally, been doing some big hiring this year. 

3. BTG Pactual: Brazilian bank, starting a little commodities trading and warehousing business.

4. Bank of America Merrill Lynch: Said to have a nice stable commodities team by headhunters, might be interested in adding to it.

Jakob Bloch, CEO of recruitment firm Commodity Jobs, said a lot of banks' traders are interested in joining commodities trading houses and commodities producers, where bonuses are often paid in cash instead of deferred stock.

One ex-bank commodities trader who now works for an agricultural company told us the pay isn't all that outside banking, however. "Salaries are much lower here and bonuses are often 20% maximum, so I'm being paid less but my job is easier."

He pointed to big hiring at major commodity trading houses. Earlier this year, for example, Vitol launched a new grain trading desk and hired at least five traders from Canadian company Viterra.