Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp. (WISCO)  and U.S.-based Noble International Ltd. have begun construction on a joint  laser-welding  facility  in  the  city  of  Wuhan  in  Hubei Province, according to a WISCO announcement last Friday.

WISCO intends  to  build  the  laser-welding facility into a large-scale processing  and distribution center in central China's Hubei Province in order to  supply  high-end  products  to  the  automobile  and household electrical appliance industries.

WISCO officials declined to comment on the project.

Access to  Noble's  high-technology  has  enabled  the facility's annual capacity  to  be  set  at  170,000  tons of cold-rolled coil, galvanized plates,  silicon  steel products and stainless steel products, according to the WISCO announcement.

WISCO plans  to  construct five such processing and distribution centers across China.  In  addition  to the Wuhuan project that is already under construction,   WISCO   currently  operates  two  additional  facilities Chongqing and Tianjin.

Noble is  the  United  States'  top  laser-welding  company and provides laser-welded products to the automotive industry.

On March  16,  Noble  announced  a share purchase agreement with Arcelor Mittal,  the  world  largest  steelmaker, to combine the latter's laser-welding  operations  into Noble. Upon completion of the deal, Noble will operate  a  total  of  22 manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, China and India.