A B737-500 FLC RPTED THAT THEY DECLARED MINIMUM FUEL; BUT THE STL TRACON DID NOT SEEM TO PASS THIS INFO ON TO FINAL OR TWR.

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MCI CTR PUT US IN HOLDING AT RACKK TRIANGLE XA21; EFC XA45 DUE TO WX STL. WE CALLED DISPATCH AND ADVISED OUR FUEL AT 5.6 (APPROX). DISPATCH SPOKE TO STL; GOT US #1 RELEASE FROM HOLDING WITH 4.9 FUEL. THIS RELEASE PUT US AT LNDG WITH 4.1 FUEL; ALTERNATE NOW IS BLV. STL APCH VECTORED US TOWARD ARPT 8000 FT. I ASKED RWY AND SEQUENCE ADVISING APPROX 4-5 MINS FROM MINIMUM FUEL ADVISORY. WE WERE TOLD TO EXPECT RWY 6 ILS. ANOTHER ACFT WAS ALSO LNDG ON RWY 12L/R. WE GOT FINAL CTLR AND WERE TURNED FOR L DOWNWIND; FLY 160 KIAS. WE DECLINED 160 KT SPD AND DECLARED MINIMUM FUEL. AT 180 KIAS; STL FINAL TOOK US ON A 30 MI DOWNWIND SEQUENCE BEHIND SEVERAL ACR ACFT 27+ MI FINAL AT 160 KIAS. ILS APCH WAS NORMAL. FIELD IN SIGHT AT 900 FT AGL. OUR SEQUENCE WAS TFC LNDG ON RWY 12R. AFTER PREVIOUS LNDG CLRNC; STL TWR INSTRUCTED US TO GO AROUND AT APPROX 500 FT AGL DUE TO LNDG TFC ON RWY 12R WHICH MAY NOT CLR RWY INTXN. FROM OUR VANTAGE POINT; THE LNDG ACFT WAS CLRING AND WE ASKED FOR CONFIRMATION OF GAR DUE TO OUR FUEL STATUS AT ALMOST EMER FUEL. THE CAPT SIMULTANEOUSLY HAD LEVELED OFF THE ACFT READY TO GO AROUND. STL TWR THEN CLRED US TO LAND RWY 6. WE ARRIVED AT THE GATE WITH FUEL APPROX 3.1. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: WX FORECAST; LACK OF ALTERNATE. DISPATCH DID A NICE JOB GETTING RELEASE FROM HOLD; BUT STL APCH AND STL FINAL APCH GAVE AWAY OUR FUEL WITH NO ASSISTANCE TOWARDS TIME OR FUEL SAVINGS. THIS PUT US AT MINIMUM FUEL WITHOUT QUESTION. I ALSO FEEL EACH SECTOR DID NOT COMMUNICATE OUR FUEL STATUS TO EACH OTHER AND STL TWR. 3 OR 4 OTHER ACFT COULD HAVE BEEN RESEQUENCED TO AVOID ANY OF THE ABOVE PROBS. FROM THE TIME WE ENTERED HOLDING AT XA21 (WX WAS 13000 FT; VISIBILITY 9 MI) AND SHOT THE ILS THE WX DROPPED TO 900 FT OVCST; VISIBILITY 6 MI. THERE WAS A DECLINING TREND WE WERE AWARE OF. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 568646: THEY CALLED STL APCH AND GOT US RELEASED #1 AFTER 2 TURNS IN HOLDING. BUT THE CTLR ON APCH (FINAL) PUT US IN LINE BEHIND MANY OTHER ACFT AFTER WE DECLARED MINIMUM FUEL AT 4000 LBS. WE WENT 25+ MI DOWNWIND AT 8000 FT. IN MY OPINION; THE CTLRS SHOULD HAVE NOT GIVEN SUCH POSITIVE COM THAT WE WERE #1. WITH THE WX DETERIORATING AS FAST AS IT WAS AND FUEL PRESSURE LIGHTS FLICKERING; I DIDN'T WANT TO GO AROUND UNLESS I HAD TO.