HONG KONG, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Chinese-owned Syngenta Group is testing investor appetite for a U.S dollar bond issue, the company said on Monday.

The Swiss agrichemicals and seeds group has authorised 14 banks to work on the deal and will start briefing investors on Monday and Tuesday, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

"Syngenta confirms it is 'evaluating conditions for a U.S. dollar issuance'," it said in a statement to Reuters.

"The potential uses would be general corporate purposes, including refinancing of debt."

The company said it could not comment on the size of the potential deal, though the term sheet showed that the bonds could be issued in tranches for three and a half years and five years.

The syndicate of 14 banks is led by Bank of China , Citigroup and HSBC.

Syngenta was bought in 2017 for $43 billion by ChemChina and folded into Sinochem Holdings Corp last year.

Syngenta has flagged it could carry out a potential IPO to raise $10 billion by the end of 2022. (Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong Editing by Jacqueline Wong and David Goodman)