This relative immobility cost Brazil dear; its exports shrank as they were unable to withstand the competition of Asian rubber, tapped at far lower prices. Consequently, production began to drop, bringing the decades of boom to an end for much of Northern Brazil. The companies that had set up shop in Manaus and Belém left in search of other more productive regions. The immigrants went home, and leading names in the world of the arts no longer performed at the Amazonas Theater. This golden age of opulence slipped into history.