Research has been undertaken to estimate key performance factors important for development of biomass value chains with intermediate products. In the case selected, the end-product had to be suitable as feed product to a naphtha cracker. Pyrolysis oil and kraft lignin were the investigated intermediates, while yield, cost and carbon dioxide footprint were compared with direct production of bio naphtha from forest residues at the petrochemical plant and fossil naphtha. Three bio-based value chains were evaluated: without intermediate; with pyrolysis oil as intermediate; and with kraft lignin separated from black liquor as intermediate. Innventia AB's simulation model in WinGEMS was used to simulate the hypothetical reference pulp mill and the effects of integration with the lignin removal (LignoBoost) and pyrolysis equipment. It has been concluded that the use of intermediates produced integrated with decentralised local industrial plants could reduce total cost and carbon dioxide emissions of transporting forest based biomass to a centrally located conversion plant. However, the economic benefit was not very large compared with the overall value chain cost to produce the final product. Kraft lignin from pulp production was a very interesting intermediate, particularly in the case of the economic benefit