Rallying commodity markets are adding to profits of Wall Street houses like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, and banks are ramping up commodity desks again, a year after the recession cut into operations.

From the US to Europe and Asia, financial institutions are poaching from one another the best dealers in oil, gas, coal, metals and grains. But while competition for talent is heating up, head-hunters say it is not as fierce as it was during the commodities boom in the middle of this decade.

Commodity desks produced strong trading results in the third quarter, as oil prices rose above $70 a barrel and copper traded around $2.80 a pound - double the lows of last year - and cocoa and sugar hit their highest levels in three decades.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S expect Goldman to report that it doubled its quarterly earnings from a year ago, with JPMorgan returning to profit from a previous loss. With commodities trading adding to those results, the banks would have the funds and the incentive to bolster their desks.

"While there isn't going to be the volume of hiring in financial institutions that there would be during a bull market... key hires will still be made as businesses take advantage of strong performances in 2009 and look to replicate this going into the new year," said Elliot Pickering, consultant in London for Human Capital Search, a global employee search firm focused on commodities.

During the third quarter, Goldman Sachs hired two power traders who used to work for Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley, according to data from Human Capital which showed well-capitalized banks poaching from rivals.

Goldman, whose business includes physical trading in crude oil, runs one of the largest commodities operations among global banks. Analysts estimate Goldman earned $4.24 per share before one-time items during the third quarter, up from $1.81 a year earlier.