What is CBM (cubic meter) in shipping?
To calculate it, measure each piece in centimeters, multiply length by width by height and divide by 1,000,000, then multiply by the number of identical pieces and add up the lines. From inches, divide the product by 61,024. One cubic meter equals 35.315 cubic feet. CBM is the basis for LCL pricing, container planning and volumetric weight.
CBM measures space, not weight, and it is easily mixed up with the figures derived from it. Weight or measure turns cubic meters into revenue tons for LCL; volumetric weight turns them into kilograms for air and road. Container capacity is quoted in CBM too: about 33.2 m³ inside a 20-foot box, 67.7 m³ in a 40-foot and 76.4 m³ in a 40-foot high cube.
Example: 25 cartons of 50 × 40 × 30 cm. One carton is 0.5 × 0.4 × 0.3 = 0.06 m³, so the shipment is 25 × 0.06 = 1.5 m³, about 53 cubic feet. Cargo never fills a container's full internal volume, because pieces do not fit together perfectly and loading needs room; as a planning rule, expect roughly 28, 58 and 68 m³ of cargo in those three containers.