What Is a Hundredweight (cwt)?
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Talk to our experts- Hundredweight (cwt)
- A hundredweight (cwt) is a unit of weight equal to 100 pounds in US customary measure, so 20 hundredweight make a 2,000-pound ton. A long, or gross, hundredweight is 112 pounds, but it sees very limited commercial use in the US. In B2B trade it also works as a pricing unit: freight rates, for example, can be quoted per cwt.
Also called: cwt, short hundredweight
How it works
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sets out the units in Appendix C of Handbook 44, its general tables of units of measurement:
- Hundredweight: 100 pounds = 1 hundredweight (cwt), about 45.359 kilograms. NIST's conversion tables call it the short hundredweight, and its mass table abbreviates it cwt or net cwt.
- Ton: 20 hundredweights = 1 ton = 2,000 pounds.
- Gross or long hundredweight: 112 pounds = 1 gross (or long) hundredweight, about 50.802 kilograms. 20 of them make a gross or long ton of 2,240 pounds.
NIST adds that the gross or long ton and hundredweight are used commercially in the United States to only a very limited extent. The 112-pound value matches the British avoirdupois table, where 4 quarters make 1 hundredweight of 112 pounds.
Converting is simple arithmetic. Divide pounds by 100 for hundredweight, and divide hundredweight by 20 for tons. A rate per hundredweight times 20 gives the same rate per ton.
Pricing per hundredweight
Freight rates are one place the unit appears. The US General Services Administration's baseline rates publication for agency freight (GSA 1000-D) expresses its rates in cents per hundredweight, or cents per 45.36 kilograms. Its minimum weight columns run from less than 500 pounds to 40,000 pounds and over, and it lists a minimum charge that applies per shipment. With a rate per hundredweight, the arithmetic is the shipment's weight in hundredweight times the rate.
Example
A distributor sells steel angle at $62.50 per cwt. A contractor orders a bundle that weighs 1,840 pounds.
- Weight in cwt: 1,840 / 100 = 18.4 cwt.
- Line price: 18.4 x $62.50 = $1,150.00.
- Same price per ton: $62.50 x 20 = $1,250 per ton, and 1,840 / 2,000 = 0.92 tons. 0.92 x $1,250 = $1,150.00, the same total.
- Freight: if the carrier's LTL rate for that lane and weight is $21.00 per cwt, the line-haul charge is 18.4 x $21.00 = $386.40, before any minimum charge or added services.
On Shopify
Shopify's weight units are grams, kilograms, ounces and pounds, so in practice a per-cwt price is a conversion your pricing logic makes from pounds. Weight-based shipping rates charge different prices based on the combined weight of items shipping from the same location, set as weight tiers. Make sure all products have accurate weights: without them, weight-based rates don't calculate correctly at checkout. Heavy B2B orders need one more check. If an order falls above your highest tier and that tier has a maximum, no rate applies and the buyer sees a shipping error, so leave the Maximum empty on the top tier.
How Uncap helps
Uncap's rebar weight chart guide works through the same math: rebar is counted in pieces but commonly priced by weight, per hundredweight or per ton, and a price per hundredweight and a price per ton say the same thing, since a ton is 20 hundredweight. On Shopify, converting pieces and lengths to pounds is built during implementation, so the buyer enters pieces and feet and sees pounds and the extended price on the same line.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Does CWT mean 100 pounds?
Yes, in the US. NIST defines 100 pounds as 1 hundredweight (cwt). The 112-pound long hundredweight exists, but NIST notes it is used commercially in the US to only a very limited extent.
Is 20 CWT 1 ton?
Yes. Under NIST's tables, 20 hundredweights make 1 ton of 2,000 pounds. Twenty long hundredweights make a long ton of 2,240 pounds.
How to calculate price per hundred weight?
Divide the weight in pounds by 100 to get hundredweight, then multiply by the price per cwt. For 1,840 pounds at $62.50 per cwt, that is 18.4 x $62.50 = $1,150.
What does the abbreviation CWT stand for?
It stands for hundredweight. NIST's tables abbreviate the 100-pound hundredweight as cwt, and the 112-pound gross or long hundredweight as gross cwt.
